They All Fall Down
by JadeOokami
Summary: There was the softest sound from the window; he spun his head to look. He found, much to his alarm, a figure cloaked in black crouching down and balanced precariously on the sill. "I did not expect to run into a exorcist here." -Complete-
1. Chapter 1

Title: They All Fall Down

Author: JadeOokami

Category: Harry Potter and D. Gray Man crossover

Genre: Action/Adventure, friendship

Summary: There was the softest of sounds from the window; He spun his head to look. "I did not expect to run into an exorcist here."

Timeline: Before/during the 7th Harry Potter book, and in D. Gray Man, not long after General Cross disappears/dies/whatever. (Spoilers for during the book and possibly the occasional one for DGM, but probably not much.)

_Warnings!:_ Some language (Even though I don't usually curse, I'm afraid the world generally disagrees with me), Character deaths (That should be fairly expected), mild blood/gore

_Updating schedule_: Every Wednesday, if possible, and occasional extras on the weekends. Except not now, since it's completed :D

_Pairings_: Canon Harry Potter pairings _for the most part_, but they are not the focus. Very little hinted for the DGM cast. Mostly it's all friendship (Because there's not enough of that).

**Disclaimer:** Ha. No. If I owned DGM, it would not be on hiatus for the second/third/hundredth time. And if I owned HP, I'd be rich, and I can tell you that I am very much poor. So, I own neither, and there's nothing to sue me for (literally).

_Edit_: Editted once more... Finally managed to fix the randomly bolded words. For some reason, no matter what version I uploaded and no matter how many times I save and created a new file, the bolded words stuck. The changes I made otherwise, the line break, all would appear, but the bolded would always stick... Had to go through here on fanfiction . net and manually unbold them. I apologize for that.

* * *

Harry shifted on the couch, restless. The TV continued to play it program, the sounds barely even registering. Dudley was the one who picked the show; of course he himself was not allowed to touch the remote on even the best days. It was some action flick that honestly had nothing going for it. He wasn't even sure why he had sat down in the first place. Watching his family run around like chickens with their heads cut off was only amusing for so long.

There was only a few more days until he was due to leave this house and probably never return. His uncle seemed to constantly change his mind about whether or not he would go along with the plan that had been devised for them and their safety, though that could not concern Harry less. He'd been periodically moving his suitcases and things from the car to the house, always changing his mind on his course of action not long after he'd seemingly come to a decision.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard Dudley chuckle toward the TV, followed shortly after by the doorbell. Both looked at the direction of the hallway that lead to the front door, hearing faint shuffling further down. Shutting the TV off and tossing the remote back to where he had been sitting, Dudley was quick to walk across the room and disappear into the hallway. Harry was slightly surprised – Dudley usually wasn't so interested in who was at the door. Standing as well, he moved to observe in the doorway.

He was curious. The usual threats that came with visiting company hadn't shown themselves, and he hadn't noticed the routine, nearly perfectionist cleaning. It was already evening – who would it be, so close to when Vernon and the others would most likely be moved?

Uncle Vernon appeared from the kitchen, wearing his polite visitor clothes, and he knew that it was a preplanned meeting even if he hadn't been told about it.

"Make yourself scarce, boy," Vernon warned as he passed, pausing in front of the door long enough for Petunia to scuttle in behind him, wringing her hands in her finely ironed dress.

Harry rolled his eyes, but slipped into the kitchen anyway. It was normal, so he wasn't surprised at the warning. He just hoped that his uncle wasn't doing anything to mess up the plans later that week.

He heard the door open, followed by loud greetings. He began to pour himself a glass of water as he identified two different voices he didn't recognize, turning to lean against the sink thoughtfully.

"We cannot stay too long, but thank you for your hospitality," A man said pleasantly, sounding middle-aged and polite. Like someone who was educated and quite possibly someone who had a high ranking at work. Why else would he be visiting? Vernon never invited anybody _else _over who wasn't family.

"My, your house is so clean! You've overdone yourself Petunia!" A woman's voice exclaimed, traveling no doubt into the livingroom as her voice grew a little more muffled. His aunt proceeded to laugh and politely show the guests to their seats.

He dumped out his water after only a few gulps and reached for the sponge. Cleaning the glass allowed himself to wander into his thoughts again, but just as he reached to turn off the faucet, he felt a sharp pin prick in his scar. He barely managed to keep from dropping the slippery glass in his surprise.

He leaned against the sink again, just standing there for a moment. Hearing laughter from the other room, he frowned. The visitors could be a witch or wizard, but the protective wards prevented anyone with malicious intent from entering. They had had so much faith in them for so long that he didn't think even briefly that there could be something wrong with the wards. The continued tingling in his scar made his decision for him though - he would go to check them out, regardless of how annoyed his aunt and uncle may be.

He made tea, and set it all on the china platter that his aunt usually reserved for guests. Picking it up from the counter and pausing briefly to get used to the heavy weight, he moved quietly down the hall until he stood in the doorway. He waited for somebody to notice him.

Vernon was the first, his face scrunching up in distaste and annoyance, no doubt wondering what Harry thought he was doing. His attention was snatched away when the man spoke to him, his face smoothing out into politeness immediately.

"Something wrong?"

He gave a small, slightly strained smile and replied,

"No, no, not at all," Then he gave Harry a pointed look, "Well, do come on. Don't stand there all day."

With everybody's attention now focused on him, Harry walked inside.

The man looked almost aristocratic. His overall appearance was slightly fancy, as was the woman's. Both looked similar, which made him think that perhaps they were related rather than husband and wife. Both appeared middle-aged, perhaps mid-forties, and they sat with a polite and proper air around them. Harry turned his sight to Petunia, who was the closest to him, and so the first he held the tray out to. She took a cup with only a minor look of disdain, though she didn't drink any of the tea inside.

"Oh, you never told me you had _two _sons. Such a cute boy, if not a bit skinny," The woman smiled at him when he glanced a look in her direction. She looked to be a kind enough person, but when their eyes met, he had the same feeling that he sometimes had when he'd looked into Dumbledore's eyes – the feeling that he could be seen into, seen through. As if the other could look right into his soul. He looked away quickly, restraining himself from touching his scar, which prickled a little more insistently.

"...He's not my son. This is Petunia's nephew. She and I took him in after the deaths of his parents when he was still very young," Vernon looked like he would rather be speaking about anything else at that moment, but his expression changed into reluctant pleasure when his guest complimented him with,

"How kind of you!"

"Not at all."

Conversation changed as Harry mildly held the tray toward Dudley, who only took one because he wanted to appear polite. He briefly wondered why the other was there at all, if it were a work related meeting. Vernon did not even look at him when he took a cup into his own fat hands.

"I heard about that Jimmy recently on the news. He was a fine man."

"Yes," The man nodded, giving Harry a 'thank you' when given a cup of tea, "His death really was unfortunate and unexpected. Filling his position will also be hard."

Harry glanced at the man, figuring that he really was Vernon's boss or at least a co-worker, and held the tray with the last cup toward the woman. She took it with another smile.

"And just after the death of his wife too, it really was sad," The woman adopted a wistful look, "I talked to her once before, not too long before her death. She was a woman full of fire. I think you would have gotten along well, Petunia. You both seem to share your passion for family."

A moment of silence passed in respect for the dead, which Harry used to shift to the end of the couch and linger there. Ignoring the dirty look sent his way by Vernon, he turned to the woman when she addressed him.

"I believe they had a son about your age. In fact, you look fairly similar to him," She beckoned him closer. Standing before her albeit reluctantly, she also rose to her feet, reaching to his face and tilting it different directions, "You are a handsome boy. And quite delicious looking."

He blinked, startled. It was an odd thing to say, he had to admit, and he didn't particularly feel comfortable being called delicious looking either. He waited uncomfortably for her to relinquish her grip. She didn't. Instead, when he tried to gently move backwards, he found he couldn't move at all. He stiffened in alarm, his thoughts whirling at high speed. Her eyes were trained on his, and he was positive now that she had to be using wandless magic through either her eyes, or her touch.

"Something wrong?" Petunia asked, unaware of her nephew's plight. Harry tried to wiggle harder, but even his jaw and tongue was frozen solid. He couldn't speak to warn them that something was wrong. His eyes were stuck staring ahead, his breathing, he thought, was quite possibly under her control as well. It was as if he had become a statue, not a thing moving except his chest as he breathed in a steady rhythm that was becoming more and more forced. He wondered if his breathing was under her control, since he couldn't break the rhythm even when he tried. Could she make it impossible for him to breath?

"Nothing at all," The woman purred, "In fact, everything is quite fine."

Staring into her eyes, he was able to see the subtle way her eyes began to change. A dull glow emitted from her irises, her pupils began to contract. The skin on her face was paling into an ill gray, which then obtained a sheen like metal. If his eyes could, they would be wide in shock. He'd never seen transfiguration like this before.

Vernon was on his feet immediately, bellowing a frightened "What in the bloody hell is – "

Harry could not see much since everything from the corners of his eyes, uncovered by his glasses, were blurry, but he was sure that the man had hit his uncle. He'd heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh harshly, followed by a heavy thump, and a short, shrill shriek from Petunia. He couldn't help think that strange – wizards hardly ever used physical violence, the other should have been stunned or killed long before any witch or wizard would typically resort to physical violence.

"You're always too impatient, my dear," The man said with a great suffering sigh. There was a distinct dark amusement in his voice.

"I cannot wait any longer," The woman's hair was stiffening into straight needles and her hands enlarging big enough that one could wrap around Harry's waist almost completely. Her mouth stretched in the corners, giving the impression of smiling, though he didn't think she really was. He could see a set of large, sharp, wicked teeth growing there. He swallowed heavily. "I'm starving."

All at once, the lights went out.

The light bulbs burst with loud pops, raining shattered glass, and the room flooded into darkness. Harry struggled violently though he didn't move an inch and could only stare at what he could dimly see of the sharp teeth approaching his own face. He didn't know what the strangers were if they weren't human, and this one certainly didn't appear to be. They seemed to have come here for the purpose of attacking him – he was so confused how they got in though, how the wards hadn't sensed them. Had Dumbledore been wrong all this time? Why only now, a week from his final deadline? Then he froze.

A high pitched whistling cut the air, high enough to hurt his ears. The large front double-window shattered with a great crash that startled everyone within. What had been the woman broke her staring contest with him, and whatever magical force holding him immobile vanished; He threw himself back, and watched as the light from the street lamps spilled in to illuminate a streak of glowing silver that flew over the threshold and embedded itself into the monster's head. Its force was so great that it went right through her, her body giving a great jerk, her mouth opened in a scream that wasn't at all silent.

Throwing up his arms, he barely blocked his eyes as she exploded into flames. He felt a great stinging and burning on his cheek and hands, but pushed it out of his mind as he fell back, onto the ground. When the light faded, he lifted his head and looking around frantically. Across the room, he spotted what he recognized as a Japanese sword embedded into the wall. It was so deep that he was sure that if he were to go into the next room, he would be able to see the blade sticking out the other side. He hurriedly fixed his crooked glasses, then looked around frantically.

Vernon was conscious, but laid out on the ground as if thrown back by a great force. Petunia and Dudley were kneeling beside him, huddled together. The man, he saw, was nowhere to be found. The room was so dark, Harry could barely make out their expressions of fear. The light from outside didn't filter in that well, and there were a couple of bright splotches against the ceiling as the light reflected from all the broken glass on the ground. There was, actually, less light than he felt there should have been, seeing as the front window had been shattered completely.

There was the softest sound from the window; he spun his head to look. He found, much to his alarm, a figure cloaked in black crouching down and balanced precariously on the sill, hood drawn up. It stood slowly, and Harry could not help but think that whoever it was, he was probably around his height- maybe even a little shorter. The light from the street-lamps shone against its back, making it impossible to see its face. He could see the shadows of the person's high boots disappear into the shadow of its cloak, its figure featureless because of the cloak's lack of shape. The head turned slowly, as if looking around the room.

Harry was looking right at it when he saw the red glow from under its hood. He barely contained a gasp into a sharp intake of breath, eyes wide. It was accompanied by a low whirring noise, like from a machine. Reaching for his wand, which had been tucked in his waistband under his shirt, Harry shifted to kneel on his feet, and began to, very slowly, back his way to the doorway just in case he needed cover. He seemed to be completely ignored by this strange new arrival.

The figure almost seemed to float to the ground when it lightly jumped off of the sill, even as it was enveloped in a silver glow that briefly lit the room, and a bright silver cape seemed to materialize around it from thin air. As it moved, silent as a ghost to the center of the room, he noticed the cape had a hood, and what appeared to be a masquerade mask attached to the hood.

"I did not expect to run into an exorcist here," It was the man's voice, a little lower and more gravelly, echoing from all around the room. Uneasy and anxious, Harry pressed his back to the wall, still kneeling, and pulled his wand up to be at the ready.

"You have run out of time, akuma," The silver cloaked figure had a male voice, he noticed, that was startlingly young sounding and just plain startling. He was so completely silent in his movements that his voice seemed to come from nowhere, "I will cleanse your soul."

"I'm not so sure that it is my time that has run out, Exorcist."

Harry felt the air itself change. It was hard to describe, he decided. He saw something then. He was not sure what it was that he saw, but it was almost as if the shadows themselves shifted. From behind the cluster of his aunt, uncle, and cousin came the darkened shape of shadow itself materializing from the wall. He could barely see it, really, and what stuck out the most were the glowing yellow orbs that he assumed were its eyes. Alarmed, he went to yell a warning even as he brought his wand up, but there was no need.

From the middle of the room, the stranger tensed, and then... vanished. No, not vanished, he realized, because he still saw some movement, some kind of silver blur that stopped abruptly before the shadow.

From under the cloak the stranger had raised what Harry wasn't sure was his arm or not, though that's what the basic shape reminded him of. One lone finger was stabbed into the dark space between the glowing orbs of yellow light, presumably its head. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley looked up at the stranger, startled at his sudden appearance before them.

"I...see. What bad... luck," It murmured, scaring Vernon and the other two when they did not expect the voice from directly behind them. Petunia fainted dead away with a breathy sigh.

"I hope you rest in peace," The stranger replied kindly, and gave Harry the impression that he was smiling.

The creature did not explode as its companion did, but instead faded away. The air lifted, and it became a little easier to breathe. Suspicious and worried, Harry gripped his wand a little tighter. Would the stranger turn on him next? Was he friend or foe? He didn't know, and as he started to work himself into a knot, a voice came from above and beside him, sending his heart into his throat because he hadn't heard anyone at all approach him.

"Hurry it up, Bean sprout, we don't have all day," The voice was pretty deep and commanding. Almost tripping himself trying to move too fast, Harry spun to stare up at the new arrival whose footsteps he had not heard in the slightest.

He could not make out the features all too well in the darkness, but he had the longest hair that Harry had ever seen on a man. And he was most definitely male; that was easy to tell from the strong jaw, deep voice, and broad shoulders. He was tall and moved just as silently as the first; holding himself almost arrogantly and gripping something long and slightly curved in one hand. He wore a long black cloak identical to the other stranger's.

"I refuse to speak with an idiot who refuses to say my real name," The first stranger snapped, sounding surprisingly annoyed compared to the kind voice he'd had before. Then he turned to Vernon and Dudley and Harry could imagine that he gave an encouraging smile, "Are you all quite alright?"

Vernon did not answer. His mouth was gaping and he looked absolutely horrified. Dudley was in a similar state, although he looked more frightened than anything, clutching his father's arm in a death grip, his eyes dilated in fear.

"Do they look alright?" Asked the long haired man in an obviously scornful tone, as the first pulled down his hood.

The dim lighting allowed Harry to see a muscle in the others jaw jump as his admittedly young face took on an annoyed glare. His hair was a light gray or white, he couldn't quite tell in the darkness - as bright as an old man's but not nearly as fragile or thin as theirs would be. Whatever the red glow had been coming from, it was gone now - two gray blue eyes stared out at him. One had the strangest mark, but Harry did not have the time or the right light source to analyze it. The long haired one moved past him, to where the sword still stuck out of the wall, and grasped the hilt. With one sharp tug, it was free, and the man wore a frown as he took part of his cloak and wiped the blade, leaving behind a streak of white drywall remains.

Harry did not even notice the approach of the first until he knelt down at Harry's side. His first reaction was to defend himself, but before he had the chance to even flinch away, the boy had his wrist in a soft, but iron hold that held amazing strength. The silver cape was gone, he noticed faintly, and his arm now actually looked like it was supposed to, though covered in a black shiny material.

"Please don't," The boy told him, "We're not here as enemies."

Harry hesitated to take the words at face value, but he was nervous for his wrist – the grip was already starting to make his bones ache and he didn't doubt that a sharp tug could do some serious damage. If that was the case, he could be in big trouble. He forced himself to relax marginally and nod in acceptance, deciding to be wary.

"My name is Allen Walker," The boy said with a small smile, "How's your face?"

Harry reached up to touch his cheek quickly, eyebrows drawn together, and then pulled away with a sharp hiss of pain. He had forgotten about the stinging he'd felt earlier, and although it probably wasn't too bad, or at least he hoped it wasn't, he figured that he'd gotten a few light burns.

"I'll… live," He replied slowly, standing. Allen followed him into a standing position, "What just happened?"

"You just had a tea party that ended spectacularly," The long haired one cut in, sheathing his sword in the long and slightly thin thing he'd been carrying before. He seemed to catch the dirty look sent his way by his partner, because he added, "If you ask stupid questions, you're going to get stupid answers."

"Don't be an ass, Kanda. Not everyone can go through near-death experiences and not be affected," Allen exclaimed. Harry decided not to tell them that he'd had plenty of near-death experiences and that that wasn't really his problem.

The situation was resolved when a streak of light came flying through the open space that had been the window and just barely missed him when Allen nudged him out of the way and took the hit instead. He was thrown from his feet and collided rather painfully with the couch, which then flipped over and threw him to the floor.

Alarmed once more by what Harry recognized immediately as a magic spell, he spun and just barely ducked under another, bringing his wand up once more. From out near the sidewalk, he could see a man that he recognized as a Death Eater. Behind him, he was framed by darkness, as if everything beyond the street had ceased to exist. Then, right before his eyes, he saw from somewhere off to the side what appeared to be a hammer enlarge and slam into the wizard from behind. He could hear the sound of it, and watched as the wizard was slammed forward, landing in the yard and then skidding, pulling up the grass as he went. When he stopped, he was still, and did not stand up again.

With long strides, Kanda swept past him, blocking his view momentarily. He stopped just before the window and went no further. Outside, Harry could see yet another person walk to the still body, wearing the same black cloak as the other two. His hair was a bright strawberry red that first made Harry think of the Weasleys, but he was too tall, his hair too much in disarray, and…was that an eye patch?

"Hey, this is a bad guy right?" The red-haired person called, holding his hand over his good eye as if it were a bright day out and squinting, "Don't tell me I just smashed an ally!"

Harry moved as quietly as he could to the window, but when his feet met the glass littering the floor, his footsteps seemed comparable to gunshots in silence. The other two didn't seem to make any noise at all when they moved like a ghost, and he was a little suspicious about that. He drew up beside the one called Kanda and tried to ignore him when his gaze fell to the side of Harry's head; his look was dark and heavy, and he seemed to subtly shift away. Squinting, Harry could make out the fallen man's form.

"No, you didn't," He called slowly, still unsure about these new strangers, "He's a Death Eater. No way he was any kind of 'ally'."

"Oh, good!" The red head let out a relieved laugh and approached the still person in the yard. He tugged the person up until he hung limply over his shoulder, then walked up to the window between them, smiling.

"Had me worried there for a second. Hey, Alle-,"

"Stop." The boy froze. Allen spoke up only then, "Lavi, that guy's an Akuma."

"Say what?" The body hit the ground with a heavy thump that made Harry wince, "Akuma can't do _magic_!"

"Said who?" Kanda snapped, leaning his weight onto one leg and appearing for the entire world that he was explicitly bored with the situation, "Since when did you have everything figured out, rabbit?"

"Err, well, I don't. But it doesn't make any sense, does it?" The stranger faltered, looking down at the body and nudging it with his toe, "And Akuma aren't supposed to be able to fall unconscious either. I mean, I didn't hit 'im hard enough to destroy him even if he was, but they've never done that before."

He glanced up with a frown,

"Are you sure?"

Allen's feet crushed the glass on the floor – He no longer moved silently, and the noise seemed to make him appear more human and normal, despite the obvious differences in his physical appearance. He paused just beside Harry and adopted a thoughtful look,

"I'm positive. Maybe it's the result of magic?"

At once, all three turned to look at Harry with a beseeching stare. Startled, he took a step back, putting his hands in the air in the universal sign of defeat, "Hey, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Kanda was the first to turn away.

"Of course he doesn't," he grunted in annoyance.

"Sorry, man," Lavi said with a grin, "Magic is some pretty amazing stuff. Shocking I didn't know about it before."

Confused, the wizard tilted his head to the side. Surely, they knew at least some magic, right? The way they moved, their speed, or at least Allen's, and the strange things about them – That couldn't be normal. They couldn't be Muggle, for that matter.

"You speak like you're unfamiliar with magic, but I've never seen anything like what you just did."

"You wouldn't have," Allen told him, "But it's not magic. Komui said that what we do was often confused for it, but it's not. Not really anyway."

"Komui?"

"Our boss," Lavi explained with a wink.

Harry was all ready to start the questioning; He had the right after all. Several strangers bust into his house, break his window, tear up his yard… his continued life not withstanding, they had a lot to answer up for. But as soon as he started to put his jumbled thoughts in some semblance of order to voice them, an arm wrapped around his head and shoved him down, below the windowsill.

"Stay down!"

He saw from the corner of his eyes when Kanda's legs disappeared as he vaulted over the sill, out into the yard. Allen was covering him as if from war, and as a barrage of lights flew over his head, he knew that this just was not his day.

From the yard, he heard shouting. He lifted his head high enough to see through the shadows of the other side of the room. He had forgotten about his family, but they were still there, now shuffling quickly to the doorway. Vernon was carrying Petunia as well as he could, hands hooked under her arms, but her legs were dragging since they were kneeling so close to the floor. Dudley was trying to help with that by holding her feet, but he was shaking so badly that he dropped them twice before his father snapped at him quietly to forget about it.

Harry's eyes connected with Vernon's, who was sweating and appeared to be in a bit of pain. Grimacing as he was, he was still getting along fairly well. His eyes furrowed and frightened, he froze and stared at Harry like there was something he could say. Harry made a hurried motion for them to leave; His uncle didn't need to be told twice. He slinked into the hallway before bolting away, deeper into the house.

"I don't know if that was the greatest of ideas," Allen whispered into his ear, surprising Harry with his closeness and making him uncomfortable. He did _not_ like how quietly they moved. If they weren't really trustworthy or on his side, then he was screwed. They'd be able to kill him before he even realized he was dead!

"They'll be fine, I'm sure. I bet Vernon will barricade them all in one of the back rooms, or sneak out the back door," He replied softly to cover up his nervousness. He wasn't sure the last part of his sentence was heard, because there was a great explosion that rocked the ground and he lost the precarious balance he'd had, falling onto his backside. Glass sliced a narrow cut into his thumb, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"A wall will hardly make a difference against them," Allen replied, jerked his thumb in the direction of the outside.

"It wouldn't make much of a difference to magic either," Harry admitted, glancing over to see the boy was on his haunches and watching him closely. The shadows made it impossible to make out his features other than the outline of his face, but the red glow was back. Up close, he could see that it was indeed the boy's eye: the red glow was in the form of circles, and there were a couple. Hovering over his eye was what Harry thought were machine cogs with a slightly transparent red film over the middle. There were two, and as he looked, he felt a shiver move down his spine.

Another explosion rocked the ground, and he lifted his head as he moved to his knees. Allen grasped the back of his shirt, but rose to look as well. His eyes peeked outside, and the air rushed out of his lungs in a great whoosh.

It was pure chaos. There were a whole bunch of creatures Harry had never seen before, all round with gun barrels. They filled the yard, and he was aware that there really was a permanent darkness from the end of his sidewalk out, as he'd glimpsed before. All sides seemed to fade into eternal night, and he could see no light beyond. His lawn was ruined, as it was torn up all over and had various burn marks here and there.

Kanda and Lavi were in the middle of it all, slashing and smashing, respectively. He'd never seen anything like it in anything other than the martial arts movies Dudley was fond of watching, and even then, it was usually pretty obvious they were stunts. But as the swordsman leapt into the air, he rose way too high to be possible. On the way down, he flipped, putting his full weight and momentum into a downward strike that took out two of the monsters at once. The resulting explosion forced Harry to duck for cover.

"I don't get how this is happening!" He cried, frustrated. Allen sent him a confused glance, so he elaborated, "There are supposed to be protective spells that keep anything like this from happening around my house! And they're not supposed to fall for another _week_!"

"Perhaps they weren't as strong as you thought?"

Allen received a not-at-all-amused glare and added, "Or maybe they are. But I imagine magic doesn't affect Akuma the same way it would a normal person. They're not people, they're machines."

That might have been possible, but it was also hard to believe. Harry had seen the first two that attacked him be involved in polite and lively conversation, and they'd seemed perfectly normal, at least for a while. But nothing was impossible – that's what he'd been told several times before. He was confused, anxious, and restless. He couldn't tell what Voldemort had planned this time, but it seemed to be, so far, nothing more than a brute force attack.

"It seems like there's some kind of force field around the house. Aren't there supposedto be people watching out for you, just in case something like this happens?"

"Yes, but I don't know where they could be. If there is some kind of shield, then it'll probably take time to pull it down. Who knows how long that may take?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: _Edit_: Chapter has been revised.

* * *

Harry was so used to being in horrible, bleak situations and fights, that even though the fight right outside his door (quite literally) horrified him, he was still frustrated that he was being forced to wait it out. He'd never been good at lying back and being patient before, and he certainly wasn't now. The numerous explosions were nerve-wracking and distracting. Every inhuman scream from the monsters that he'd heard called Akuma made him jump in shock and fear. The sound of it grated on his very being and, frankly, it was a frightening sound. It was hard to remember that they weren't really people, if what Allen had said about them being machines was the truth.

He hadn't even looked out the window for several minutes. Not after he'd witnessed Lavi being blown back, slamming into the front of the house hard enough to see cracks on both sides of the wall. He wasn't sure about the damage, but with the way the other had grasped his ribs and cursed, it had to have been painful. He was shocked when the redhead had stood up after only a moment or two and leapt right back into the fray, looking as if he hadn't just been blown through the air and slammed against a house.

Allen had jumped out there after firmly telling him to stay put; they had no idea what effect magic would have on the Akuma, if any. And it wasn't as if his yard was very big. So he was fairly sure that he was either temporarily safe (if the strangers were as good at what they'd been doing for the past twenty minutes as they seemed) or in greater danger than he'd first anticipated.

"Shit!" He wasn't overly familiar with their voices, but that'd sounded like Lavi, "They keep coming! This is so unfair!"

"The enemies never play fair, you stupid-," Kanda's exclamation was cut short by a gunshot that must have hit too close to home.

"Yuu!"

"God damn it! Shut the hell up and _concentrate_!"

Only a moment or two filled with gunshots passed before Allen called,

"All four walls seem impenetrable. Got any ideas?"

Harry heard a sharp laugh,

"You think you could drudge up some long lost magical ability? That'd be pretty nice right about now!"

Frustrated with his situation and overall helplessness, Harry started to crawl under the sill, moving slowly and carefully. The glass was digging in uncomfortably, but at least it wasn't cutting. This was the first time since he'd discovered magic that he'd felt, and been, this useless, he mused. Except, maybe since Sirius's death. Scowling at the unwanted memory, he shuffled a little faster.

Easing around the doorway and into the hallway, he held his wand out in front of him. To his left, he could see the front door had been blasted to bits, and he briefly wondered if that had been caused by the fight outside, or Kanda when he'd barged in. He'd like to think that if he hadn't been able to hear the swordsman's approach, he'd at least have been able to have heard his door being mutilated. There were scorch marks just inside there, and a mysterious pile of ash that he made sure to avoid carefully.

He hesitated there, stuck between running upstairs for his invisibility cloak or just sneaking to the doorway for a better vantage point.

"Harry! Duck!" The scream was so loud that he didn't think twice about it; dropping to his knees, he barely managed to avoid having his head blown off. The wood above his head exploded in a shower of splinters, many of which landed in his hair. He only glanced before wincing and looking back. Allen was waving somewhat wildly at him, his strangely shaped arm slashing through an iron hide without even looking. He decided not to dwell on the fact that the other had known his name when he'd never introduced himself.

Ignoring the obvious warnings to hide, Harry slinked a little more carefully through the doorway, and was a little startled when a shadow fell over his form. Looking up in alarm, he noticed that it was Kanda. He appeared disheveled, his cloak torn in several places and he walked stiffly, perhaps from a bad collision. Even with the bad lighting, Harry could see the Evil Eye he was receiving,

"I see you're a reckless fool who doesn't know how to stay where he's told."

Before he could take offense, he was being advanced upon. The man was quite towering and even a little intimidating when standing over him like that, he thought, but then a brush of hair fell over his face and he was grabbed around his wrists. The grip was stronger than he'd ever felt before, grinding his bones together when he tried to yank away. He was tugged up to stand straight, then he was pulled harshly forward.

"What are you doing? Let go!" He pulled harder, trying to lock his knees instead of walk, "I'm not a child!"

"Well," Kanda began up the stairs at a quick pace, half dragging him the whole way, "You're obviously not fit to be called an adult. You can't even follow orders correctly and do what's best for everyone, which would be to _do what you're told_."

"Follow orders? Who do you think you are?" Angrily, Harry began to struggle. He didn't know who this guy _thought_ he was, dragging him and ordering him around like a child, but he wasn't Harry Potter for nothing.

Kanda reached the top of the stairs and only took a few moments to pick out his own room, seeing as there were locks on it. He took several steps inside, to the bed, and promptly tossed Harry there. The springs of the old mattress creaked in distress,

"Unfortunately for us, we are the only reason you are still alive."

Without another word, he backed up to the door and shut it, seconds later putting the locks into place.

Harry sneered at the door hard enough that his face began to hurt. He had been underestimated, because there was no way that the locks would hold him there. He wasn't even entirely sure what, exactly, he had been planning to do in the first place if he hadn't been taken here, but he refused to be stuck here. He stood, ignoring the wide-eyed look Hedwig was giving him from her cage, and reached for his wand…only to find it not there? Indeed, as he looked all over his person, and around him, he could not see it. He remembered pulling it out actually, and hadn't it still been in his hand when he'd been grabbed?

"That bloody _bastard_!"

He kicked his trunk hard enough to hurt his toes before plopping back onto the bed.

He had two options now. Sit and wait, or grab his invisibility cloak and try to slip out of the window. However, as much as he hated to admit it, without his wand, he'd be a sitting duck. He'd be invisible in the middle of the battlefield with no way to protect himself.

Frustrated and upset, he narrowly ignored the loud boom of another explosion from outside. There was only one wall between him and there, but it felt like much more.

His day had gone to hell in a hand basket, and it had done so very quickly. He was being attacked by creatures he'd never heard nor seen before in his life, in the very same house that was supposed to protect him from these sorts of situations. And if they'd somehow found a way around the wards, that meant that, in the future, this place was no longer safe. He didn't feel bad about the thought that his move might come a little sooner than planned, but it was still unexpected and thus unappreciated. He absolutely hated not knowing what was going on. He also hated being useless. But more than all that, he couldn't stand having people fight for him, possibly getting hurt or even killed. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

Determination renewed, he stood. It didn't take him long to find his cloak and pull it out; he avoided looking toward the window the whole time. Just as he let it unfold and prepared to throw it on, he froze. There were footsteps, heading possibly for his door. They were unfamiliar, but seeing as there were currently three people here that he didn't really know, he didn't immediately duck for cover. Instead, he waited with bated breath, pulling the cloak on partway.

The footsteps stopped just outside his door, and were followed by a high pitched screech, like nails on a chalkboard. It only lasted for a second; in the next, the door was blasted backwards, landing at Harry's feet. Before him was not any of his new allies. It was another monster, a new one, one he did not recognize. It had some strange helmet on, or something blocking its eyes, but he had the distinct impression that it was staring right at him. Everything seemed to freeze. He could only distantly hear the war behind him. Then it spoke.

"Ah, Potter," its voice was doubled, echoed, as if two people were talking at the same time, "Fancy meeting you here."

Harry had spent a good deal of his life hating that voice; it wasn't hard to recognize.

"Snape?"

"Am I?" It asked, tilting its head to the side. The only light was spilling in from the one window in the room, and directly onto it, "It doesn't really matter now, does it?"

Backing up, Harry tried to subtly shuffle to the window; there'd be no getting out through the door. The Akuma took a step inside and looked around,

"Quite the place you have here. I'm afraid it will not be in such good shape soon, though. It is just so hard to… control myself," It spoke the end in a purr, almost seeming amused. With a flick of his wrist, Hedwig's cage seemed to twist in on itself, the owl's short shriek ended almost instantly. That whole area of the room was torn apart, his bed ripped to shreds by invisible knives, sending fluff and the remains everywhere.

He cried out in anger and shock at the death of his owl, but forced himself to lunge; aiming for his only escape, trying to use the slight window of opportunity the move gave him. It did not work out so well.

Pain exploded on his back, momentarily making his vision go black and sending him airborne. He couldn't tell which way was up or down, or what direction he was going until glass exploded around him. His stomach rose to fill his throat when gravity began to take its toll and he fell toward the earth from the second story. He dreaded what the landing would feel like.

Luckily, he did not need to. Silver enveloped him. It was warm, and comforting. The sudden stop was jolting, but he was held firmly and had the feeling, by a grunt of pain he heard, that he was not who'd taken the brunt of it. Prying open his eyes, he recognized Allen, who lowered him to his knees seconds later.

"Are you okay? Bleeding? Cut? Broken?" Allen seemed genuinely concerned.

"I… don't know. My back hurts but… I don't think I'm bleeding."

Harry didn't get the chance to check because the Akuma was suddenly hovering over them like it'd been there all along.

"Tsk tsk, Potter. You're weaker than I remember," it commented lazily, "And that is really saying something."

Allen appeared very alarmed. He growled out a quick,

"You know each other?"

"Do I?" The Akuma asked, "My, your eyes seem familiar Potter. Contacts?"

It leaned down, looking them over. Harry was confused. Something was obviously wrong with whatever this thing was, whether it was Snape or not. It kept talking nonsense.

"Yes… there is…something about them. What is it?"

It jerked back so quickly he almost missed it. It screamed, high and loud and tortured as it clutched its head in its clawed hands. It sounded so pained, so angry, that it appeared inhuman, almost alien. Long gashes appeared, completely self inflicted, as its sharp fingers were dragged down its face. The air seemed to reverberate; it was painful, and it stung his face something awful. The silver covered him again, protecting him from all but the harsh scream.

They were both picked up and thrown several feet. Harry's back protested immensely, and a muscle on his shoulder blade began to twitch sporadically. Opening his eyes, he realized they were almost in the middle of the yard. There was not many of the round ones left.

Lavi and Kanda appeared, blocking Allen's back and unprotected self from the rain of bullets.

"The hell are you doing?" Kanda growled.

"Hey, go easy on the kid. This has been a pretty stressful day, don't you think?" Lavi retorted.

"I _think_ that he should stop lazing around!"

Harry was a little appalled by the other's attitude. Here they were, being beaten around and sustaining injury, and he was insulting them. Or just Allen, he wasn't sure, but it was unfair and mean all the same. He clenched his jaw as he thought about Hedwig, dead now.

"Just taking a break for a minute, that's all. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

Before anything could break out between Kanda and Allen, there was the sound of something snapping. It echoed around them, and then light burst through in waves, blinding them all. Lavi let out a cry of surprise. It must have startled the Akuma too; bullets rained around them, and it was only Allen's cloak that protected Harry, but he heard a cry of pain from Lavi and something akin to a grunt of pain from Kanda. He didn't dare look for fear of what he'd find, not that he had much of a choice in the matter. His eyes were watering heavily, and it felt like he'd never see right again.

"Harry? Harry!"

He recognized Mrs. Weasley's voice immediately.

"Mrs. Weasley? No, don't come over here!" He stood in a hurry, sending what he could perceive of the world spinning. He held his hands out around him to steady himself, feeling like he'd fall any second. Panic and fear welled in him. Hedwig, the first thing he'd gotten from the magical world was gone. He didn't want to lose anyone else.

"You've got to go back!" He yelled above all the noise. He could see bright lights under his watering eyelids and he tried stumbling toward her voice. But something grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked hard enough to send him sprawling backwards. He landed half in somebody's lap; he pushed himself away awkwardly, ignoring the explosion of heat in front of his face and the new crater that would surely be there.

He could hear many new voices; almost all of the Weasleys were there it seemed like, and Mad Eye too. He wasn't sure how many, or who all had appeared. He felt grateful that the barrier was down, but frightened for his friends. Magic was unpredictable here, and they were more likely to be hurt than to inflict wounds on others.

Something whizzed by Harry's ear, and he reflexively ducked away from it. Somebody screamed, and he forced his eyes open, ignoring the burning and watering it caused. Everything was extremely blurry and hard to make out, so he rubbed his eyes with his palms until he could make the scene out well enough. A large crack in his glasses distorted much, so he had a hard time, but he thought he saw one of the Weasley twins trying to get to him.

Whoever had pulled him back still had a grip on his shirt. He tried wriggling away, but it was no use.

"Harry!" It was either Fred or George, he couldn't tell right away, but they reached him. A large hand clamped his shoulder, trying to shake him a little, "Harry, come on, this way!"

Through the chaos, his eyes adjusted and he began to follow, trusting the others to lead the way. They shouted periodic spells of _Protego_, pulling him by the hand, bent low.

"What's going on?" He yelled loud enough to be heard. His vision was finally adjusting, though slowly.

"I should be asking you that, mate!" The other joked back at him. He heard one of the strangers yelling for him, but they went ignored. Whoever they were, he was more inclined to trust his friends and the more experienced wizards at the moment, magic unpredictable or not. His eyesight cleared enough to see through the smoky yard. There were balls of light floating all around, and he could only guess that there were many spells warding against sound and whatnot. Not even one neighbor glanced out, and if they did, saw nothing strange.

"We're almost there!" He could tell now that it was Fred who had him, and he felt a surge of gratefulness. Soon, he'd be gone, this would be over, everyone would be just fine… they had to be.

An explosion sent him careening into Fred's back, causing them both to trip. With Harry's added weight, they fell a little painfully into a tangle of limbs,

"You're pickin' a bad time to become clumsy, mate," Fred grumbled.

Harry's reply was lost to the wind when he heard someone cry out and another rain of bullets take place. Just as he made it to his feet, he turned to look; Mad-Eye had been shot just below his ribs. Startled, he made to run over to the man's side. It was almost instinctual, and he felt his nerves screaming at him to hurry.

"Watch your back!" Lavi called, "He's a goner!"

Of course everyone was confused. But then some kind of strange symbol began to spread across the man's skin, and Harry didn't wait to see what would happen. It took him only a handful of leaping steps to reach the man; but as he reached out to grab Moody, lights flickering from the corner of his eyes, the man's skin changed into a dreary gray. The symbols, giant black stars, reached a close as they covered every inch of skin.

"'arry-," Then Mad Eye turned into ashes and floated to the ground, his clothes following and his wand clattering to the ground.

Harry's stomach dropped, and he could only stare. Certainly… what happened wasn't… what he thought just happened, right? He couldn't believe it, refused, because Moody was strong, and there was no way… just no way, that he just died in his arms. The ash still lightly coated his forearms, and there was the distant smell of ash and death.

A woman screamed, and from the clouds he saw a group of Death Eaters, hovering on their brooms. His scar shot to life, burning angrily, splitting his head open with pain. Trying to press it down with the bottom of his palm, his fingers squeezed closed as he tried not to get _dead person remains_ in his eyes; he bent over at the waist with a small cry of pain.

Fred appeared again, shoving him down just in time. But as he looked up, Fred let out a hiss of pain, jerking to stare at his hand. It was just a scratch, really, though it was bleeding profusely.

Allen popped up beside Harry, grabbing Fred's hand just as more black stars appeared, slowly spreading like a disease.

"Kanda!" He bellowed, his voice cutting through the chaos like a knife. The swordsman only took a moment to reach their side.

"What's going on? What's wrong with him?" Harry exclaimed as he watch the same mark that seemed to have taken Mad-Eye's life spread up his friends fingers and hand. He looked up, first at Allen, then Kanda, and pleaded, "You can help him, right? Save him."

Kanda adopted a grim look, even as Allen jerked the others arm straight, and Harry was _not_ ready for the spray of blood that hit him, warm and wet.

Fred let out a howl that shook him to the core, trying to pull his arm back, now just a stump. Allen gripped him, tearing his cloak to shreds with his teeth and trying to wrap the wound, but it was just bleeding so much…

"Fred? Fred, baby, speak to me!" Mrs. Weasley pushed Kanda out of the way hard enough to send him stumbling. He scowled, turning and walking away with a whip of his ponytail.

The twin gave his mother a shaky smile, and promptly passed out. She was sobbing, her whole state of being in disarray. Allen reached out to her with a soft, concerned expression on his face, not noticing when Harry began to slip away, back from the blood, although it seemed to follow him in a thin trail. Turning around, he witnessed the last Akuma destroyed by Kanda, who immediately turned his attention toward the figures in the sky. Lavi was hovering over a few people on the ground, trying to do what he could. His expression suggested that he was way out of his area of expertise.

Lupin spotted Harry and waved him over.

"I don't know what's going on, but they're not approaching us," The werewolf waved toward the Death Eater's vaguely, "We need to get out of here. I think it'd be safe to apparate away from here, to the original destination. The wounded need tending to."

There was a pause before he added suspiciously,

"These three, do you know them Harry?"

"...No," Harry replied numbly, feeling a slow, cold burning fire inside him, "But they saved my life."

This seemed good enough; Lupin nodded and he began to order the others into a group for transferring.

"Remus, Fred's hurt pretty bad. And my uncle and company are still inside somewhere. "

"Tell Molly what the plan is, and I trust she'll see it done. I'll send somebody to take care of them, don't worry."

Harry moved away before the man's worried gaze found his own.

"Hey, four-eyes," looking over because he was sure it was he who was being referred to, he found Kanda stalking up to him, "What's going on?"

Swallowing his indignation, he felt a little fire filter back to him and he glared right back, "We're taking everyone to a safe place. Just stick around and grab onto someone when you're _ordered_ to."

Kanda looked offended, and then angry. His eyes darkened, his shoulders bunched up unpleasantly. Then Lavi slipped up to his side with a wary grin,

"Hey, cool it Yuu. Don't wanna get left behind, yeah?"

Harry was pretty sure that the only thing keeping Kanda from taking a swing was his self restraint.

He told Mrs. Weasley the plan, who nodded in determination. She looked at Allen and Lavi, asking if they would be tagging along. Allen seemed a little flustered, but answered a positive.

"Alright, gather round, dears."

Allen, Lavi, and Kanda appeared confused and uncertain but Lavi took them both by the arms and pulled them closer into the group. Kanda yanked his arm back violently but followed anyway. From the side came the pop of another apparition taking place.

Harry glanced up into the sky in time to see somebody waving at them. They were much too far away to see their faces, but they did not wear any cloak at all, let alone the one Death Eater's wore. They appeared to be wearing muggle clothes, but he couldn't be sure. They rode along behind somebody else, who appeared to be uncomfortable.

"Hey, is that… supposed to be Tyki Mikk?"

Allen even pointed, and everybody else felt compelled to look; Kanda let out an angry hiss that suggested that he agreed, but was not at all happy about it.

"Why isn't he doing anything?" Lavi wonder aloud, shielding his eyes to stare up into the sky.

"Chances are, he is unable to. Now, quickly gather 'round," Mrs. Weasley said tersely. She was gripping her son tightly and looked almost wild. Harry wouldn't be surprised if she snapped at them any second.

"Okay lady, what're we supposed to do?"

"We're apparating, of course," She shared a look with him, apprehensive and confused, "What is there to be confused about?"

There was silence all around that Harry broke by waving them closer,

"Just grab on. Even if it's just your finger, you have to touch her in order for this to work."

Kanda appeared mutinous, but Allen elbowed him roughly.

"I still don't get what's going on," Lavi muttered, "But I guess we'll just have to trust you wizards or whatever."

The snort that the swordsman let out told everyone exactly what he thought of that.

"Uh, are you sure that this is-," Allen cried out when the pull started, yanking them all and paralyzing their movements. The houses swirled around them until they were just passing colors and blurs. Harry felt the uncomfortable air press in around him, and he only hoped that this day wasn't a prelude to just what his new year would hold for him.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I appreciate it. I'm hoping these are improving chapter by chapter as I get a hang of this again. If you have any questions or concerns (or even better, compliments) reviews are nice. Gotta go now – My kitten won't stop trying to eat my keyboard like a cookie.

_Edit:_ This chapter has been revised.

* * *

The landing was dizzying, and Harry felt that the air was unpleasantly heavy. Time blended together for several long moments. Hands were all over him, feeling his arms and back. His cloak was lifted away, and he tried slapping whoever's hand it was away.

"Calm down Harry, its okay," He heard somebody say. But he muttered something about it not being okay, definitely not. He'd had a horrible day and he just wanted to rest for a little while. The hands were persistent, and cool air hit his back. He was feeling tired now, his body was aching from rough treatment, his back was burning and stinging. Hedwig and Moody had both died, and Fred had lost an arm. It was almost enough to make him want something like a coma instead of a nap, if it meant he could get away from everything and just _forget_.

"It's just a lot of bruising, I can take care of that right now," Mrs. Weasley murmured, "How do you feel, dear?"

He felt like crap, but he didn't want to worry her. Instead, he opened his eyes blearily and sat up straight, even though that was the last thing he felt like doing. His glasses were in horrible shape; it messed with his vision something terrible. Pulling them off and trying to wipe them on his shirt, he asked in a voice much calmer than he felt he should be,

"What happened?"

"You passed out for a few minutes, Harry. Everyone's been quite worried."

"I meant about what happened before that," He amended, glancing at her.

"Oh, we're not sure. Remus arrived just a minute or two ago and he was quick to cart away the three that were with you – here, let me take care of that."

With a quiet spell, his glasses were almost as good as new. Putting them on, he could see Mrs. Weasley's ashen face watching him in concern. He was in the Weasley's sitting room, he realized.

"Where are they? They haven't been causing any problems or anything, have they?"

"I wouldn't know, Harry," She gave him a weak smile, "I thought I heard raised voices at one point, but I didn't dare to leave yours or Fred's side."

She gave a pointed look behind him, so he turned to look. Fred was there, laid out on another couch. The twin was very pale, almost sickly, and his left arm was bandaged heavily. The bandages themselves were soaked in red; his whole hand up to his elbow was gone. Harry felt sick at the sight. He figured that no doctor had been called thus far – no doubt all the treatments Fred had received was from his mother or someone else from the Order of the Phoenix. But a lot of things could be wrong that he could not see from the outside, so he asked.

"How… how is he?"

"He'll be fine… but strangely enough, we've found that we can't re-grow his hand. It's baffled us, since Fred wasn't even cursed. To have your hand chopped off… by a sword even!"

She shook her hand, paling a little more, "I can only thank the Heavens that it wasn't his wand arm."

Harry couldn't bring himself to say anything. His friend had lost a whole hand protecting him... and another died... he couldn't get his mind around it. Perhaps it was because he wouldn't let himself. Letting himself would mean accepting it, and he just couldn't.

"Everyone else is fairly alright. Just mere scratches, we'll be alright," She was rambling now, wringing her hands in a show of worry, "I just wish I knew what happened back there."

"You've never seen anything like that either?"

"Never."

There was a general rustling from the other side of the room. Fred's head lifted wearily, his eye's slightly unfocused.

"Oh, Fred, dear! How are you feeling?"

Mrs. Weasley hurried to get up and move to her son's side. She paused long enough to give Harry a weak but supposedly reassuring smile and then knelt by Fred.

"Hmm," Fred murmured, "Do you think a hook would be a little over the top?"

For a moment, Harry didn't understand, but then, listening to the big woman's quiet sobs, he realized. He was surprised that the other even knew the classic tale about pirates.

From another room came a shout and then crashing. He was up in seconds, rushing for the door before either Weasley could even stand. He grabbed his shirt and struggled into it along the way. He did not bother to sneak; throwing open the door, he found everyone gathered along with the three strangers that had saved his life. The air was heavy with anger and distrust, and everyone seemed divided between the two.

"Look," Allen was saying to Lupin, who looked absolutely furious, "We apologize, but-,"

"Speak for yourself," Kanda snapped in cold anger, "I won't apologize for doing my job. Where were _you_ when the kid was about to be killed? You're all _lucky_ that we were there; at least we're doing _our_ jobs right."

Remus looked as if he would snap at any second – his face was twisted into rage and he gripped the back of his chair until his knuckles turned white. Mr. Weasley was covered in a light sweat and looking uneasy, while George, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Tonks, and Hagrid stood on the sidelines.

"Remus, calm down," Tonks tried to soothe him, "Getting angry won't solve anything. We don't need more enemies. These guys might even be allies; you can't just turn away from that."

"Allies?" The werewolf looked appalled, "Am I the only one who thinks this is all too convenient? Some creatures come out of nowhere and all of a sudden, these three show up to save the day! Think about it!"

Harry hesitated to speak, but took one step into the room and did anyway, "Um, guys, I think-."

"Harry!" Hermione lunged across the room, wrapping her arms around him in a hug tight enough to take his breath away. Ron followed close behind; he received a silent slap on the back that only gave him a small twinge of discomfort. Whatever had been done to his back, it seemed healed fairly well now.

"How do you feel, Harry?"

"I'm fine," seeing the looks he was getting, he shook his head, "Really, I am. I'm sore, but that's normal, right? Anyway."

"You think you could talk some sense into these guys?" Lavi asked, "I mean, we're being treated like prisoners here."

"What makes you think you're not? You really expect us to trust you, just like that?"

"You would be fools to do so," Kanda snipped, turning his head to stare at the wall. "But I don't think you could hold us here if we really meant to leave."

"Listen," Harry cut in quickly, before more yelling could break out, "Regardless of the circumstances, these three saved my life," Seeing that everybody only seemed just barely mollified, he added, "I would have been dead _long_ before you arrived if not for them."

Lupin spun on his heel, taking long strides away from the group until he was just barely within hearing distance. Harry watched for a moment, but then turned his attention back to the big group, "We should at least give them a chance… but that doesn't necessarily mean trust."

He gave the three a pointed look, which was returned with equal force. Feeling a slight stitch in his side, he tried to inconspicuously grab a seat. If anybody noticed, they didn't make any sign that they did.

"Why don't we start over?" Allen suggested. Without waiting for a reply, he said, "My name is Allen Walker. These are Lavi, and Yuu Kanda."

Motioning to each as he spoke, he paused long enough for the names to sink in before saying,

"We're Exorcists. Not like what you're thinking though!" He hastily added when Ginny gave him a stare that told him exactly what she thought, "Those creatures that attacked Harry, they're called Akuma."

"That's our job, by the way. Destroying Akuma," Lavi gave a grin that was probably meant to be inviting, but turned out darkly amused instead. Mr. Weasley shifted to stand beside his oldest son in the room,

"I've never heard of you before. Then again, I've never heard of those creatures before either."

"We work for something called the 'Black Order.' They have bases all around the world, but it's still not that big. It works for the Vatican – and its job is two things. The first is to destroy all Akuma that we come across. The second is to find and take something – something called 'Innocence.' Also not what you're thinking."

Allen winced a little, pulling at the edge of his raggedy cloak.

"The point is, is that we have a mission to retrieve Innocence, and we will retrieve it whether you all want to get in the way or not."

"Kanda!" Lavi elbowed the swordsman in the side harshly.

"What does that have to do with Harry?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"We have a mission, actually, to protect Harry Potter until Voldemort is dead," there was a general uncomfortable and disbelieving air around the room at the sound of the name, "As you can see, your magic isn't the most effective against Akuma. And… if what I saw before we… 'apparated' or whatever, is correct, then you may be in more trouble than we think."

"You mean that person that you thought you recognized?" Harry offered since it didn't seem anyone else was willing to speak. That invisible wall between the exorcists and everyone else was just as large as it always had been, if not larger. Nobody seemed to want to believe the exorcists, much less trust them.

"Yeah," The white haired boy nodded, "That was somebody named Tyki Mikk. He works for the Black Order's greatest enemy, The Millennium Earl, who is also the one who _creates_ Akuma. If he was there, there's a good chance that our enemy has joined with yours."

He could have sworn that he could hear the crickets outside in the resounding silence. When a reasonable amount of the silence passed, Lavi began noisily digging into his pocket.

"In all honesty, I don't think the Order would send us to you normally, but we got a request from a wizard that you all might know. He claimed that he feared your Moldy-mart," Harry cut in with an only slightly offended,

"It's Voldemort."

"Yeah, whatever. He thought that they might try something, and apparently, he was right. He offered something in exchange – information about another few artifacts that he suspected contained Innocence."

The redhead pulled out a slightly damaged envelope and held it out to him with a sheepish look,

"So we're here to follow you around and try to help you save the world. Or something."

"Sounds bogus to me," Ron complained, "How could _nobody_ have heard of these Akuma things before?"

Harry ignored them as he opened the envelope.

Inside was a letter addressed to him. It was short, rushed, and straight to the point. He could only read it with dawning comprehension and apprehension. He could recognize Dumbledore's scrawl anywhere; it was here, across the page, and he felt a keen sense of nostalgia reading it.

"What does it say?" Hermione asked impatiently. He passed it to her, and spoke to the others in the room.

"It's from Dumbledore," there was a gasp or two, "And it says everything that Allen already said. It also said that he wants us to trust them, but be wary. He says that he only recently discovered Akuma himself, and that as far as he knows, magic is either completely ineffective or minimally so."

"If magic doesn't work, then what are we supposed to do? The only ones that seem to know their weakness is you three," Tonks looked around worriedly, wringing her hands.

"In all honestly, it was a two way deal when Dumbledore said that he only recently discovered Akuma. We weren't aware of magic before, or at the very least, we weren't told about it. So nobody really knows what's effective or not. Your protective… spells… seemed to be okay, but curses and stuff didn't work. Even if they did, I would still advise you to protect yourself and get away as soon as you could."

"That… disease, or whatever it was, that took away my son's hand… what is it?" Mr. Weasley watched them with a hard expression, a muscle in his jaw jumping.

"That is a poison that enters through a wound that an Akuma's bullet makes, and spreads rapidly until it covers your body. It doesn't matter how big or small the wound is, even if it's only equivalent to a paper cut. Then it kills you," Allen seemed to hold his left arm with a deep frown etched onto his young face.

"Is there a cure? How can you stop it?" Lupin demanded as he returned to the group almost silently. His sudden appearance made George and Mr. Weasley jump, startled. Nobody had noticed him edging back to the crowd.

"There is none. The only way to save yourself would be to cut the area off before it spreads. That's the only way."

"I don't believe you," Ron ignored the hissed warning from Hermione and plowed on, "There's no way you all can go through fights like what we just saw and never be cut."

"We can't?" The way Kanda tilted his head and the light hit him made him appear dangerous and predatory. From Harry's side, Ron tensed, his hand twitching for his wand. The exorcists were intimidating – even with bright lighting and several other trained wizards in the room, they stood in their strangeness and seemed, even for the most innocent and friendly of them, to be powerful, dangerous, _otherworldly_ people.

"Actually," Lavi cut in quickly, "It's different for us. Or, well, them, actually. Like, if I got hit, I'd still die. But Allen and Yuu wouldn't. It all has to do with… our Innocence mostly."

Harry had a question already, because the way the one eyed exorcist glanced at Kanda (who actually gave an impressive glare at his teammate that would have made Snape proud) was pretty suspicious, but a voice cut him off before he could even try.

"That's enough of this. Everybody's exhausted, it's time to rest," Mrs. Weasley stepped into the room, brushing by him and standing in the middle of the room, daring anybody to challenge her, "All this questioning can wait. They're just _boys_, Exorcist or not."

Remus was quieted by her stare, his own mutinous expression turning irritated as he spun away.

"Now then. I'll get something set up for you boys; everybody else, off with you!"

Harry was almost amused by how quickly everyone listened. Ginny was one of the first to disappear, he noticed. George went straight to the room where his twin was being held, Mr. Weasley right behind him. Ron and Hermione stayed at his side, while Hagrid hesitated before wandering off. He guessed that the reason everyone complied so quickly and without fuss was because everyone was tired, and it was obvious that the exorcists would hold their peace. For now. Mrs. Weasley approached her new guests with a motherly air,

"You're all a mess! Let me get a good look at you," She looked them over, clucking at their ruined clothes and filthy appearance, "Are any of you hurt? Sore? Hungry?"

"Oh, uh, I-I'm fine," Allen blushed, dropping his previously business like attitude like a stone and tried to give a smile. She wiped his cheek with a frown, and saw something that Harry couldn't. She let out a small gasp,

"You look so young! And this scar is terrible! How old are you, Allen?" Her motherly tone seemed to bring out the inner child, because he seemed to soften a little,

"I'm sixteen, ma'am."

"Sixteen?"

An astonished Hermione echoed her startled reply. Ron even gave a start, staring in a squinty-eyed fashion.

"You're much too young to be running around and getting into life and death fights! What are people _thinking_, recruiting boys like you for something so _horrible_-"

"It's alright, lady. Little Allen has his seniors to look out for him!" Lavi grinned, leaning on Kanda's shoulder.

"You have five seconds to _stop touching me_," Kanda stated stonily. Lavi moved away, but didn't seem at all perturbed.

"And how old are _you_? Not very old I bet!" She stomped her foot for emphasis.

"I'm nineteen, and so's Yu," he said, "But age has nothing to do with being an exorcist. Actually, Yuu and I have seniority on, like, almost all of them. And there are a few that are kinda old."

His words seemed to be horrifying her and he didn't even notice. Allen did, and elbowed him pretty hard, but it went ignored.

"You mean you've been doing that… that kind of thing for a long time?"

Hermione looked almost as horrified. Harry himself couldn't imagine a life like that. His first encounter had almost terrified him; he didn't think he'd like doing it as a living. And he couldn't even guess what age the others had to have been when they first started out, if they had seniority on most others. If it was really young, he supposed, it might be that they knew nothing else.

"Oh yeah," Lavi exclaimed, "So don't feel too scared. We know what we're doing."

"Actually," Kanda cut in with a slight glower, "I don't think you have _any_ idea what you're doing."

"Well!" Mrs. Weasley said loudly, "Let's get you all cleaned up. Come on dears," She didn't wait for them; grabbing Allen's arm, she tugged him out of them room and the other two followed, bickering all the way.

That left Harry and his friends alone with Lupin, who looked so very tired.

"I think I'm going to go make sure everything's set up. Will you help me, Ron?" Hermione gave what she hoped was a steady smile.

"Help with what? We're just - omf!" Ron glared at the girl with a frown, "Alright, alright. You didn't have to elbow me."

He was pulled from the room by his elbow with a pout. Harry considered following, but he was sure that Remus needed a few words. The way the man appeared, he had to be at least ten years older than he really was. Still, he hesitated. Several uncomfortably silent moments passed until he finally approached the other, tugging at the hem of his hastily pulled on shirt. Luckily, his father's friend spoke first.

"He was right, you know?" An aggravated sigh let itself be known, "Nobody was there when you needed us the most."

"Remus," he started because he wasn't sure what the man wanted to hear.

"You could have died. You _would_ have died."

The way it was spoken, in such a sad, broken, defeated way made him wince. Lupin bent his head in remorse, pressing his hand to his face.

"But I didn't."

Apparently that wasn't what the man wanted to hear.

"So what about next time? What _then_? Harry, I fear for you. The sudden appearance of these strangers is worrisome; I don't trust them."

"Remus, it's okay, just beca-."

"It's _not_ okay though! Why don't you get this? This burden – it's too much for you. This could mean your _life_."

"I've known that for a long time," Harry shot back, "But if not me, who else? Dumbledore trusted me with this; why can't you?"

"I do trust you! But I don't trust these strangers, or Voldemort, or the Death Eaters, and this is hardly about trust anyway! I just want you to be _safe_."

The silence was even worse now. In the distance, he could hear the twins laughing, and it seemed the werewolf could hear it too,

"Just look at Fred. He lost a hand today. What will you lose by the time this is over?"

"Maybe the question is what everyone _else_ will lose if I don't do this. I can't give you any promises other than I will try my best, Remus, but this will be okay somehow."

"And what if it is not? What if you fail?"

"Then everyone I know and love will die, and everyone else will either be killed or be enslaved," Harry stated matter-of-factly, having already antagonized over this fact for a very long time, "Which is why I can't fail."

Lupin laughed; it was dry and humorless, and Harry would have been happier had the man not.

"I guess I cannot change your mind. I didn't really think I could, but I figured it was only fair to try. I hope you can do this Harry. Just know that everyone is here for you – all you have to do is ask."

"I know," He replied, and meant it, "Thank you."

Though that was often exactly what worried him, actually. Look what happened to Moody and Fred for 'being there for him'. But he had long since learned that trying to change their minds was the same as asking a leopard to change its spots.

"By the way," Lupin added as an after thought. He held out his hand to reveal a shiny new band, "I'm sorry you couldn't be there. It was very small."

"That's great! Congratulations!" Harry was surprised, but impressed and pleased.

"Thanks Harry."

"Of course!'

He felt that there were many things left unsaid, but he preferred it that way, at least for now. Maybe in the future, but not now, when things were so unsteady. Instead, he smiled and hoped that things now would be enough. He received a soft, hesitant smile in return.

"Um, I hope I'm not interrupting…"

They both turned; Allen stood at the door, looking apologetic. He seemed entirely out of place; like he belonged somewhere else, anywhere else that wasn't this clean, shiny, _normal_ kitchen.

"Not at all," Harry replied quickly, "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no," The exorcist said in relief, "But Mrs. Weasley wanted me to tell you that somebody was here to see you. Are you busy?"

"No, he's not," Lupin's voice was quiet and indifferent in a snap, "I'll be going then, Harry. I'll be seeing you very soon."

"Alright," Harry called quickly at the retreating man, "I'll see you, be careful."

Lupin paused at the doorway, subtly shying from Allen's whole being, "I should be telling you that. Be careful Harry."

Then he was gone out of sight, leaving Allen to stare after the man who had looked at him so pointedly that his meaning couldn't be less clear. Less than a minute passed listening to fading footsteps until they were gone.

"Sorry about that. He didn't mean anything by it," Harry apologized, his manners winning over his knowledge.

"Actually, I'm sure he did. But it's fine," Allen hummed in disagreement. Another minute of silence passed, once again uncomfortable. Harry shifted slightly – he felt it would be prudent to make a quick getaway. But before he had the chance to open his mouth, he was cut off.

"When things get tough, there's only one thing you can do," The boy wore an earnest expression, and there was nothing conniving or mocking about him. In fact, he looked to be very honest. So, even though he didn't actually want to hear somebody's sympathy or false advice, he knew that at least the other was a fighter, and so he asked,

"And what's that?"

"You have to keep moving forward."

Harry truly felt a sense of enigmatic pull from that sentence. He didn't understand it really, but the exorcist said it with such certainty and devotion, that it seemed like he truly believed it, heart and soul. There were many things that could have been meant from that phrase, and he could hardly guess which it was. But he felt that even if he didn't get it, the boy at least understood something; that was enough to make him feel better.

"I suppose you do," He relented. Allen gave him a look – the patient expression parents reserved for children who didn't understand but would figure it out on their own.

Then he turned in a flutter of ruined fabric and was gone down the same hall that Lupin had disappeared into.

Harry didn't know these strangers; he had no reason to. Despite the circumstances, and his common sense, he felt that even if they weren't on his 'side,' as it often seemed, then at least they weren't his enemy either. Allen was too open, too honest. Or just a really brilliant actor, he wasn't sure. Kanda was impossible, in more than one way. He was arrogant, rude, and mean, but he was also powerful, which he proved in the way he moved. Lavi was… hard to read. He was kind of loud, but he also had a certain kind of arrogance about him.

He didn't trust them, not at all. But he didn't automatically discredit them either. The letter had been powerful proof. He'd thought, briefly, that maybe it was forged, but he'd noticed the seal in the envelope. He'd felt the magic wash over him in a warm wave that had brought up deep emotions, and knew exactly whose it was. So it could not have been forged. He also thought of the possibility that they had killed the real exorcists and taken their place, but that seemed unlikely. Surely his enemy would have chosen people that not only fit in better, looked inconspicuous, but also people he could get along with better? Voldemort was smart; at least everyone else seemed to think so.

He sighed, feeling a headache setting in. Just what he needed.

He heard loud, boisterous laughter from somewhere deeper in the house and remembered that Mrs. Weasley had been calling for him. Feeling a little foolish for standing in the middle of the room, staring off into space, he moved with small steps toward the door. He thought of Allen's words. He was moving towards the future; maybe that was the meaning? Whatever it was, he could only hope that the words had been as heartfelt as they sounded.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: _Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

* * *

The guest Allen had spoken of turned out to be Kingsley, who looked worn and tired. He hid his exhaustion from his face, but his shoulders slumped noticeably and his feet shuffled before him. Mrs. Weasley tried taking his coat, but he refused politely.

"I won't be here long, Molly, don't bother yourself," He insisted.

Harry made himself known with a small, discreet cough.

"There you are! I have some news for you," he was told, "I gathered some of your things from your room; or at least what I could. I've also taken your uncle and his family in; since the attack came so early, their protection wasn't quite ready yet, but we're doing all we can to ensure their safety."

"Alright. Thanks a lot. I'm sure they appreciate it," he replied. Either nobody noticed, or nobody cared enough to say anything about his unconcern. Instead, he asked, "Where's Mr. Weasley?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's around, dear. Probably making sure everything's going smoothly," Mrs. Weasley assured him. Though, the fact that she was trying to reassure him at all made him suspicious.

"Anyway, how are you, Harry?" Kingsley asked in concern.

"I'm okay, I guess. Could be worse."

"Certainly true," He didn't try to hide the once-over he gave Harry, "You look pretty horrible, perhaps you should go rest?"

"Don't tell him that! Besides, you look much worse. You're the one that needs rest," Mrs. Weasley glared, giving the man an evil eye.

"Well, work must be done. I'm sure I'll see you again soon," Kingsley sighed, rolling his shoulders, "Give my best wishes to Fred, if you don't mind."

"Not at all!"

He left then, with a wide wave goodbye. Harry sighed as well; he was feeling pretty tired, but his grief made it hard to relax.

"Well, why don't you take a shower? He was right, you've looked better," Mrs. Weasley admitted, "You can borrow some of Ron's clothes; He won't mind."

He nodded his assent – a shower did sound nice. So he went ahead and went to the bathroom, where he pried off his clothes and stepped under the hot spray with relief. The bruises that he'd supposedly had were gone – he'd checked. But his back was still sore anyway. Mrs. Weasley came in part way through and left him some clean clothes while taking his dirty ones.

His shower was quick. The clothes left for him was a little big since Ron was taller and a little lankier than him. He didn't mind, as they weren't nearly as bad as _some_ of the clothes he'd been forced to wear.

Afterward, he went ahead to Ron's room. Hermione was there as well, and apparently he'd arrived in the middle of a conversation. They made no attempt to include him and hastily ended whatever they had been talking about, instead asking how he felt.

"As I've told just about everybody else, I'm fine. I swear."

"We're just worried about you, mate," Ron pointed out with a frown which mirrored Hermione's own.

"Yeah, I know," Harry sighed, sitting on the bed set out for him, "Sorry."

"No problem. I can only imagine what today was like for you," She shook her head worriedly, "We only arrived around the end, but we saw those things. There were so many! Frankly, I'm shocked you're still with us, Harry."

"And to think – you only saw the end horde."

"There were more?" Ron questioned in astonishment, "How many?"

"I don't know, I didn't really have the chance to count," Harry responded sarcastically. At the witch's reproachful stare, he amended, "Lots. There was a whole bloody line. Whenever one was destroyed, another one or two replaced it. I didn't see all of the fight, but from what I could hear, there were plenty."

"I'm a little skeptical," She admitted, "I mean, I just can't believe that those creatures just busted through the protective charms around your house like they were nothing. They're impervious to magic, and if there were as many as you say, it's just hard too imagine that those three strangers took care of them all by themselves. Without magic, even."

"What are you saying? That I made it all up? I was seeing things?" Harry demanded angrily.

"No!" She exclaimed, "But Harry, it wouldn't be hard to exaggerate given the circumstances? I didn't get hardly a good look at those so-called 'Exorcists,' but they didn't look too impressive or powerful."

"You should know better than anyone not to judge a book by its cover, Hermione," He shot back at her a little coldly, wondering why he'd thought the exact opposite. Surely a couple of teenagers couldn't be as intimidating as he'd first imagined; Maybe he did exaggerate that part. But he knew what he'd seen. Hermione appeared flustered, perhaps a little insulted, but before any kind of argument could break out, Ron surprisingly injected,

"'So called'? So you've never heard of them either?"

"Never! Not once have I heard of an Exorcist, or at least not one that does what they spoke of!" She cried passionately, "I mean, there are the exorcists that, you know, exorcise ghosts and things, but that's all. I've never heard of Akuma either. _Or _the Black Order."

"Well, it's no surprise you haven't heard of the Black Order, is it? That'd be like them having heard of the Order of the Phoenix before they heard of magic," Ron adopted a thoughtful look, "I think that they're a really suspicious lot – but they're not so different from us, you know? At least, with the secrecy and stuff."

Harry and Hermione both stared at him, startled.

"What?" Ron looked between them, face twisted into annoyance.

"Er, nothing, Ron. You have a point, I think. But still. You can't trust them Harry," Hermione shrugged, "I think Remus had a point, but I don't think it'd be wise to simply ignore them and hope they'd go away. At least, we should wait until we have more information."

"I agree."

"Still, did you get a look at them? They're right weird looking!"

"Ron!"

"Well they are! One's got the longest hair I've ever seen on a guy before! And when I saw the other, I though he was an old man at first! Then the third one only has one eye – what's up with that?"

Harry shook his head in bemusement, leaning back,

"Ron, you heard them. They've been fighting like they did at my house for a long time. He probably lost his eye in a fight or something."

"Maybe he got some of that disease stuff in his eye and had to cut it out?"

Hermione paled at the thought. In the silence then, a knock came from the door. Feeling a little sick, and being the closest, she stood and answered politely.

Her face colored at whatever she saw; taking a step back, she motioned to Harry, who stood. Walking to stand behind her, he pulled the door open a little wider, so both he and Ron could see a little better.

It was Kanda, wearing an annoyed expression. He had recently showered – all the grime and muck was gone and it made an absolute world of difference. Up close, Harry could actually see the exorcist's face. Every other time there had been horrible lighting and even in a good spot there had been too much dirt and disarray to really see properly. Not to mention that in the kind of situation he'd been in, looking at the details in another's face hadn't exactly been a top priority in his mind at the time.

The first thing he noticed was that Kanda was Asian, which had completely slipped his eyes before. His hair was down, and still dripped from what looked to have been a hasty shower. He was tall; taller than any of the other three in the room at least. His frame was revealed (In a very tight sleeveless turtle neck type shirt) to be solid – not buff, but not slender either. His muscles were well defined and he stood warily, like a wolf in a den of wary dogs. Large, calloused hands, slightly tall figure, and a constant frown did give off an irritated air. He also had somewhat high cheek bones, and overall was extremely good looking. It was hardly a surprise that Hermione had been flustered.

"Here," He grunted, holding out something Harry recognized with ease. He took his wand back so quickly that he almost snatched, leaving the other with a disgruntled expression. He was not quite as intimidating as he'd thought, but he figured that had something to do with the fact that his mind had calmed considerably and the other had cleaned up and put more normal clothes on.

"I'd say thanks, except you kind of took it without asking," He said, still a little bitter, and appalled that he'd forgotten in the first place. There had been so much going on… But that wasn't an excuse. Berating himself harshly for having forgotten even in the face of safety and grief, he glared up at the other slightly.

"Whatever."

Kanda turned away in boredom, like he couldn't be bothered with them, shoving his hands into his pockets. Harry shut the door after two steps, turning with a frown.

"…He _took_ your _wand_?" Hermione almost shrieked in her anger and disbelief.

"I bet he heard that," Ron complained with a wince.

"Shut up Ronald!" She snapped, "Harry, what happened?"

Harry walked back to his bed, where he proceeded to look his wand over critically for any signs of misuse or abuse though in all honesty he couldn't see even one new scratch. He told himself that that was probably due more to his own inability to pick them out and less that there was none.

"Well, when I didn't stay put, and almost got my head blasted off, he forced me to my room and locked me in it."

"Harry, you should have stayed put in a situation like that," She chided, "But I can't believe you let him take your wand!"

"You really think I'd _let_ him take it? I didn't notice it was gone until _he_ was," He told her, a little annoyed that she'd think so little of him, "I didn't think he'd be so great a pickpocket that he could take my wand right out of my hand without me even noticing, okay?"

"Out of your _hand_?" Her expression told him all he needed to know on what she thought of that bit of news.

"Yes, well, can we move onto something else?"

Ron jumped on the chance, leaning forward slightly,

"Did you get a good look at that guy? He's a bloody jerk, don't get me wrong, but he looked like he could do some real damage."

"Obviously, he _can_," Hermione replied with a roll of her eyes, thinking about her glance at his hands; they'd been large, especially the knuckles, and she had no doubt that he'd be physically strong even without whatever enhancements he had from his 'Innocence'. Whatever that was.

"Yeah, but still. Looked a little younger than I thought he was – I wonder how old all the others are, if there really are any others?" Ron wondered thoughtfully, looking towards the door again.

"I can't believe that one boy, Allen, is sixteen. I thought he was a lot older, at first glance. Can you imagine us doing that kind of thing when we were a little younger than him, and doing it even now?"

No, Harry couldn't. Spoiling the occasional evil plots was a lot different from risking his life on a day-to-day basis. Though, he supposed, he'd probably be doing that soon. Maybe he should take pointers from them. They seemed to know what they were doing, the only proof being that they were still alive.

In the silence, they heard a loud thump - one reminiscent of Hagrid.

"This whole thing, I don't know _what _to think of it. What's it going to do to our plans?" Hermione worried, biting her bottom lip.

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean, if this all turns out legit, what then? Are they really coming with us on our… 'mission'? Three people are a good number – six will be a lot harder to hide. Plus, they don't know a _thing_ about magic."

"But if it's legit, we don't really have a choice, right? If we can't take those Aku-whatever things down ourselves, and we can't learn, they _have_ to come with us. Unless, you know, we _want_ to die. Even more," Ron shrugged.

"That's an idea," Harry spoke, "I wonder if we can learn or something. They said you need something called Innocence – I wonder how it works? Where you can get it?"

"_I_ think," Hermione said loudly, "That it's too early to say anything. We need information; we don't really have any. Try to remember that if either of you talk to one of them. Remain inconspicuous, but ask questions."

"Remus will have that covered, I'm sure. He's really upset. He'll probably grill them the first chance he gets," he revealed, crossing his legs.

"Wouldn't want an angry werewolf at your heels, right?"

"Ron!" She cried in exasperated amusement.

"What?"

She shook her head in response.

The conversation turned then to other things that Harry really only half paid attention to. Eventually, Fred's wound popped up. It wasn't something he wanted to hear or talk about, but he listened reluctantly anyway. He felt a heavy weight in his stomach as he did, like a knife was twisting in his gut.

"I didn't expect something like that to happen," Hermione admitted, "And my first thought when I turned and saw what had happened and pieced the bloody sword and the wound together, was that it seemed like such a barbaric thing to do."

"Did you notice? They seemed almost to be used to that kind of thing. I wonder how many body parts they've cut off of people before?" Ron wondered bitterly, staring distantly at the far wall.

"Don't be that way. They saved his life. I don't suppose they had any other way since they don't know magic," She murmured sadly, fingering a piece of her hair.

"Maybe."

"No. Not 'maybe.' "

"Guys, I don't want to talk about this, can we talk about something else?" Harry cut in a little frustratedly. He didn't want to hear how his friend lost a hand, permanently, trying to save him. It was horrible, and he felt probably worse than Fred's own brother did. It made him sick just thinking about it. He'd still had Fred's blood on him too, prior to his shower, but he'd pushed it out of his mind.

"Harry," She mumbled sympathetically with a look to match, "It's not your fault."

"I don't want to talk about it."

So they didn't. But the air seemed stifling; He felt the need to get some fresh air. It really was late, but with all the action, he doubted anyone involved had managed to get to sleep, even if they weren't here at the Burrow.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

It was the lamest excuse ever, but he didn't care whether they believed him or not. Both nodded almost distractedly. He stood, and in only a few strides reached the door.

The hallway felt much better, though the coldness seeped in a little too far. He wandered – he didn't know where to go, but it certainly wasn't back there. He felt a little guilty ditching them like that, but it had been a hectic day. He needed a little time alone. At the least, he wanted to mourn for Moody and Hedwig a little.

He paused when he heard another two voices in another conversation up ahead; He hadn't noticed them very quickly because they'd been talking in lower, quieter tones. He leaned a little closer to listen better.

"I hope you're feeling better," his remaining good mood disappeared at the sound of Ginny's voice, "Mum wanted me to take you these; They ought to take away any remaining aches you might have."

"Oh, thanks!" It was Allen's voice that answered, much to his displeasure, "That was very kind of her."

"It's no problem. Just call if you need anything. And thanks for your help."

"I don't mind at all. I'm just glad that we weren't thrown out – I kind of thought we would be after all that. We really owe you and your family for your hospitality. Don't let Kanda's sour attitude fool you, he's grateful too."

"It's the least we could do. I know that what happened to Fred wasn't your fault. Everybody is on edge right now, but it will pass, don't worry," Ginny's voice was grateful. Harry felt a little jealous. He wanted nothing more than to turn the corner and interrupt the conversation, or at least have her to himself. He would, too, if he felt he deserved the attention after breaking it off with her like he had.

"I hope so. I'm sure everything will work out though," Wasn't that just what he'd been saying a little bit ago? That everything would work out?

"Okay. Well, thanks again. I'll see you tomorrow, I imagine. Are you and your friends going to bed now?"

"Soon. Kanda is probably finishing up right about now, and Lavi's just helping out your dad. I'll go too, and then we'll go to sleep afterwards," Helping Mr. Weasley do what, Harry wondered. And why did Ginny seem so at-ease with Allen? He would have thought she'd be one of the most suspicious.

"Alright. Then I'll be seeing you."

"Goodnight, Ms. Weasley."

"Ginny is fine."

"Okay. Goodnight Ms. Ginny." She laughed softly. Harry thought Allen's formality was strange, but it was good anyway, if he used it toward her of all people.

"Goodnight Allen."

Footsteps headed his way and so, ignoring his jealousy and annoyance, he turned the corner, walking as if he hadn't been eavesdropping. It was Ginny heading his way. He didn't do anything other than give a brief nod; he hesitated to do anything else.

Luckily, this was Ginny and she didn't hesitate giving him a goodnight as well. Then he quickened his pace to catch up with Allen. From behind the other, he could see that the boy's hair was indeed white – he'd thought it some darker gray, but no. It was stark white, and it was quite the eye catcher.

Allen turned his head to look at him with a tired smile. He was struck by two things. The first was how young the other really did look. The second was the jagged looking mark across his left eye. It was almost fear inspiring – if it hadn't been on such a friendly and young face.

"Hello Harry," He nodded a little, matching pace easily. He noticed that he was just barely taller – but not by much.

"'ello. Where're you heading?"

"I was going to join Lavi, out back with Mr. Weasley. Is there something bothering you?"

"Not really. I thought some fresh air sounded nice. Mind if I tag along?"

"Not at all."

The silence was not horrible, but it was a tad uncomfortable. Their footsteps were rather loud on the floor, and they didn't cross anybody on the way. Harry appreciated the silence. He was still perhaps a little annoyed at the other, but it was hard to stay that way. They walked outside quietly.

The outside really did feel nice, he decided. There was no moon out, so it was darker than usual, and if it weren't for that, it would be almost perfect. As it was, the added darkness only made him feel more paranoid. The shadows were deeper, darker, bigger, more intimidating. He supposed that it was only right to be a little paranoid after the night he'd had. It was interesting to see the way that the shadows seemed to almost shy away from Allen. He had a natural sort of glow to him.

Harry was led out back, to the shed where Mr. Weasley was. The man was mumbling under his breath when they arrived, rounding the corner, and jumped when he noticed them.

"I didn't see you there. How are you Harry? Good I hope. Where are Ron and Hermione?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, and Ron and Hermione stayed inside. I just wanted to come out for a moment," He answered with a small shrug, "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just fiddling around is all. Don't worry about it."

But Harry did worry, at least a little. It was really late, everyone was tired. And yet the man was out here 'fiddling around.' It hinted at him perhaps being more upset than what he'd thought the other had been. He wondered at the reason behind the late night tinkering. He had thought the man would try to rest.

A noise came from inside the shed, and seconds later, Lavi appeared looking sheepish.

He was cleaned up too, and now that all the dirt was gone, his eye patch was even more pronounced than before. His hair was almost Weasley red – almost because it was a little too bright, had a little too much crimson. And his build was similar to Kanda's, from what could be seen, except perhaps a bit more slender or lean. His nationality was undecipherable. His one good eye was one of the brightest green Harry had ever seen. He also seemed friendly, hardly as skilled at battle as he'd shown before. Yet there were the small details with him, as had been with Kanda; calloused hands, worn fingernails, tight muscles that belied their real strength.

"Hey, Allen, have you seen Timcampy? We were supposed to send in a report, remember?"

Allen blinked in surprise, and to Harry's confusion, began looking around the air near his head.

"You know, know that you mention it, I haven't seen Tim in quite a while. He probably wandered off somewhere. It's really late anyway; it can wait until tomorrow, can't it?"

"I guess so. It's no skin off my nose."

Harry tilted his head to the side and wondered what they were talking about, but didn't ask. Instead, he turned his attention to Mr. Weasley, who was looking very tired indeed.

"It's quite late. Why don't you boys head off to bed? Especially you, Harry. It's been a long day."

It really had been. But he wasn't tired yet. He would be plenty soon enough, but at the moment he was restless; there was just too much he didn't know, wasn't sure of. It made him uneasy and paranoid, and he didn't like it. Not to mention the two deaths of those close to him this night. He felt like he should be doing something, instead of waiting here peacefully.

Off across the yard a shadow appeared, stalking toward them. It was imposing, as if the figure had simply materialized from the darkness. Startled, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and he was suddenly reminded of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He instinctively reached for his wand.

It stepped in a window of light that spilled into the yard from the back door, and it turned out to only be Kanda. The swordsman didn't actually reach them; Instead, he gave them a Look, and then went inside. The door shutting behind him echoed slightly.

"Where has he been?" He asked in suspicion.

"Scouting out the area. Since he didn't say anything, he probably didn't find anything worth mentioning," Lavi mused, rubbing his chin.

"'Probably'?" Harry repeated incredulously.

"Kanda's a real private guy, it's really hard to know what he's thinking. But if there'd been anything particularly important, I'm sure he would have mentioned it."

"That, and he's just a jerk," Allen added with a roll of his eyes.

Harry didn't know how they'd be okay with the possibility that information just might be kept from them, especially in the kind of situation they were in. One mistake could get them all in major trouble, and he was troubled enough to say this out loud.

"Well, you're wrong about one thing," The redhead replied in faint amusement, glancing at Mr. Weasley, who wore a grimace, "One mistake would most likely be fatal, not just possible trouble. Anyways, don't worry about it. You'll get used to how it works."

Harry wasn't sure he wanted to 'get used to it.'

"Alright boys, off to bed now," Mr. Weasley cut in. He nodded to the other redhead, "Thank you for your help, but you really must get some rest."

"Sleep sounds pretty good," Allen admitted, smiling, "We will see you tomorrow then."

"Goodnight Allen, Lavi. See you in the morning."

Harry left when the other two did, finding little reason to remain outside. He ran into Molly on the way back to Ron's room, who immediately ushered him off. He caught a glance at Hagrid, who didn't notice him, and so he kept going. By the time he reached the stairs, he could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him now that he had relaxed a little. He parted from the exorcists at the top, and hesitated just outside Ron's door.

When he could hear nothing inside, he eased the door open – the lights were off, Hermione was gone, and there was a lump in one of the beds that he was positive was Ron. Shutting the door as gently as he could, he shuffled to his own bed, where he eased in with a relieved sigh. It did not take him long to fall asleep. He, surprisingly, did not have any nightmares of Voldemort, but instead dreamt of Sirius. It was comforting at first – but then his godfather began to shift and change until he looked exactly like one of the round monsters he'd met earlier that day.

When he awoke, he couldn't remember his dream, but he was filled with a sense of fear and apprehension.

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A/N: Hmm. I don't like this chapter so much. It's kind of a filler, in a way. And it kinda bored me, too. But it should get better here soon.

Also, I hardly even know who Kingsley is (he's big and black, isn't he? Or something.) But I know that he's somewhat important (or at least I couldn't disregard him simply because I don't know him – since he's a friend of Harry's and all ).

Anyways, reviews are much appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay, this chapter is a little shorter than the others by like, a page and a half. At first I was all determined to stretch it as much as I could, but then I decided that it's not like every chapter needs to be six pages, so I might as well leave it shorter. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and reviews are more than welcome!

_Edit:_ This chapter has been edited and revised. I tried to fix Snape, make his a little more in character. Also, added a small, tiny scene XD

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Snape was dizzy, nauseated. He could hardly tell which way was up or down – if he couldn't feel the cold floor under his back, somebody could have told him he was floating upside down and he would've been fooled. He didn't hurt in the physical sense, exactly, but something in his chest was hot and shots of almost-but-not-quite-pain would course through his spine. He could hardly think, and more than anything, his head throbbed with painful intensity. It was almost comparable to Crucio, and it was not enjoyable.

When he'd been stuck in that horrible state in between darkness and light, he had felt like he was disconnected from everything; His mind, body, and soul were all separate for the first time, and it was both disorienting and painful. His body hadn't even been part of the equation, really, except for the fact he used it as a focus.

The first time he opened his eyes, he felt blind. For a split second, he panicked. What if something had gone wrong? It would have been so ridiculously easy to make a fatal mistake – he'd been forced to play this game where _nobody_ knew all the rules. Not Dumbledore, rest his soul, and not Voldemort. For once, it was a pretty even playing field. He was the one being forced to _discover_ the rules and abide by them. So far, he had found many, many rules, but the cost had never been cheap.

Then light began to filter in, and he realized nothing was wrong with his eyesight, but compared to the acute vision he'd had just a few moments ago (Minutes, hours, days? He didn't know.) there was a huge difference. The one advantage he had was an awareness of self that his last container didn't have. He hadn't been able to remember much, and feelings were distant and faint. His memories had been garbled and messy, and he hadn't even been able to tell what memory came first. His had mixed with the memories that the other soul inside the body had, and it was only his own mastery over legilimens and occlumens that allowed him to keep his mind separate, and not to lose it. If he had, his mind would have been irreparably lost forever.

Second came sound, and he was aware of his own breathing. He couldn't hear anybody else, which was both good and bad. Good, because there was nobody to see or take advantage of his current helplessness. Bad though, because there _should _be someone. Several someone's actually. The deadly silence just beyond his own breathing was enough to remind him more thoroughly where he was and what had happened. The sound of a rat scurrying caught his attention for a moment, which was joined by one or two more.

Next came his sense of smell, which was perhaps the one of the five senses that might have been more advanced now than moments before. The room was dark and musty. The light wafted in almost lazily, except it looked more sinister, more dangerous, than it let on. It fell on shelves that carried objects that he knew others thought disgusting, and that he himself had no feelings for one way or another.

When he could feel his fingertips, he began to ease himself into a sitting position. From there, he dared a look around. There had been five other people, Death Eaters, and there were five people now. However, they all lay unconscious, and reaching to the nearest body to him, he found that at least one of them was dead. He felt a rush of relief – at least he was still alive. And then disappointment – because damn it, he was still alive. Crushing those feelings within, his mind began to work faster. His guess was that this one had died when his other body did, unable to separate himself in time. His soul was still out there somewhere, but no doubt it was lost, never to return. A soul could not live long with absolutely nothing to attach itself to.

When he'd gathered himself as well as he could, he stood. The room spun, and the low light level made it a little more difficult to gather himself again. He bent and checked the others, and found that out of the six, including himself, there were only two survivors. That was bad odds. Horrible odds. But after the experience he had just had, he couldn't say he was surprised. If anything, that anyone at all survived, other than himself, was surprising.

Afterwards, he stumbled straight (or, at least as straight as he could go) to the door. He almost ran into the wall, but caught himself and slipped into the hallway, where he made way down toward the room he knew his Lord to be. Annoyed with himself even in his state of confusion, he forced himself to concentrate a little harder on just walking steadily. From outside the room his Lord was in, he could hear voices, and he felt himself bristle when he heard one that was completely unknown; He knew all the Death Eaters, and there were no new initiations recently. A new voice could mean a lot of things. He prepared himself for whatever it would be, though it did not take long. He had long since hardened himself to his life.

"Well, Severus? Don't keep me waiting," A voice from the inside said, and though he spoke lowly, Voldemort's voice could carry through the largest, loudest crowd. When Snape stepped inside, suppressing a mental wince at the creak the door made when the sound shot through his skull painfully, he was addressed, "What news do you bring?"

This room, too, was lowly lit with candles. It was decorated lavishly – the Malfoy Manor would have no less. Voldemort sat in a chair near the back of the room, fingering his wand in what appeared on the outside to be a careless manner, but Snape knew better; it was a threat. Lucius stood several steps away, beside his wife, looking pale and almost sickly. Draco stood on his father's free side, sweating and trembling just a little, trying to mirror his mother who stared blankly at the opposite wall, but every so often he would flinch at the sound of the Dark Lord's voice. What caught Snape's eye, though, was the man on Voldemort's left.

He recognized the stranger only because he'd seen the other briefly, and at a distance. Closer now, he could see the man was extremely handsome, and he stood exactly to the left of his Lord. He dressed like an aristocrat, but attitude and body language suggested more, such as something akin to royalty. His skin tone was extremely odd – he'd never seen a completely gray color like that on a person before, and his eye's were an eerie gold that hid a darker inside. He wondered for a moment if the other had some kind of magical creature as an ancestor, but shook it aside as a useless and unnecessary thought.

He sent a bolt of Legilimency forward, wanting to know what lay behind that man's face. He did not dive at all deeply, only skimming the very surface of the other's thoughts and mind. He was shocked at what he found. He saw a glimpse of deep darkness the likes of which he had never in his life seen before, not even in his Lord. He felt as if something in that darkness was watching him, in turn, and he was able to grasp feelings of almost-fascination and boredom before something shifted forward almost undetected by him. It was slippery, made of nothing solid. It grasped him, holding him still, giving him the sense that it could tear his mind apart, should it wish it.

He had the distinct feeling of _two_ minds looking at him before he felt the sort of evilness and blackness that he did not think a human was capable of having. It wrapped around him and he saw a face peer out at him, grinning, before he was thrown out again. His outer senses sharpened again, and he heard himself speaking. He had mastered the ability to probe another's mind and still function a long time ago.

"...Harry Potter still lives, my lord," Snape announced as he knelt low, trying to sort through the things he'd just discovered and wondering what the hell this man was. A small part of himself that he had almost forgotten existed felt a pinprick of fear, but he covered and destroyed it instantly. His body protested, mostly his back and face where phantom pain still lingered.

"Yes, of course. I didn't expect the plan to work as splendidly as it did, but I knew that Potter would survive," Voldemort hummed softly, tapping his wand on the chair, "If there is one thing I have learned, it is that _I_ have to be the one to kill the boy. His continued existence is due to my mistakes more than his triumphs. And what of the others, how do they fare?"

"There is only one survivor other than myself – Yaxley. I expect that the strain was too much for their bodies, or else they could not keep in control of their minds. There are a number of things that could have gone wrong, but the fact remains that the chance of survival was very low from the beginning," he replied, keeping his head bowed and staring at the wood floor. It swam, just briefly, but then settled. He was overcoming the after effects, it seemed.

"I see… That is very unfortunate indeed. I suppose that this new ability shouldn't be neglected. I am intrigued by how this will be an advantage to us – perhaps they may almost be more useful than even dementors."

"I'm fairly shocked you managed to pull something like that off, it was a spectacular view to behold," Snape was startled that the stranger spoke so freely, and without the Dark Lord's consent. Such a thing would often mean torture. The only ones that could get away with that were very few in number, and that man was not, to Snape's knowledge, one of them. His control waned in his exhausted state and he looked up. He didn't dare stand just yet, for after a failure such as this, it was best to be extra cautious. He looked at the newcomer with a carefully blank expression.

"Was it?" The Dark Lord drawled, looking almost disinterested, "I imagine Harry's protectors are scuttling about trying to figure things out. Did they simply slip into the barrier? No trouble at all?"

"None," The stranger shrugged in a carefree manner, "After all, those barriers were not meant for creatures such as Akuma. Had the exorcists not arrived, the Potter boy would be yours right now."

"Yes. The exorcists – you failed to mention them to me," Voldemort's voice sounded calm, indifferent, but Snape knew better. It was, in fact, covering extreme malice – it was the tone the other adopted just before a painful Crucio.

"I did not know it was necessary," Snape hid his dark amusement at the blatant disrespect. Did this man want to die? Obviously the man was special. If he were not, he would already be lying on the ground with no heartbeat. "As it was, I could not have known of the possibility since I was previously unaware of Dumbledore – he's the one who no doubt struck a deal with the exorcists."

"What will that do to the plan? I am sure that those so-called exorcists will guard Potter closely. It will no doubt make it tougher to play out."

"Well, it will still be a challenge. If they are protecting the boy temporarily it will not seriously hinder us, but if it's long term, it could either be quite a bit of trouble, or only a slight difference. The technique you've discovered will be of great use. I never thought it possible to treat Akuma the way you do – but then, even if I had, I would not have had the means to implement it. It was a creative and brilliant idea." The man had a distantly polite expression, a slightly smug smile. He seemed used to flattering someone such as this, but it made the Potion's Master wonder why the other would try his luck withholding information if he _knew_ how he should act.

"It was," came the vaguely pleased drawl from Voldemort. "We will discuss it further in the near future. For now – Severus," Snape looked at the sound of his name, "You may rise. So, what did you experience?"

He hesitated, getting his thoughts in order as he tried to decide what way was best to describe it without giving too much away. At the same time, he blanked his mind, rearranging his thoughts and hiding only that which he would risk severe punishment to hide. Voldemort gave no sign that he detected anything amiss; but then, he probably wouldn't even if he had. Licking his dry lips, Snape stood, ignoring the cramps in his legs, and spoke,

"My Lord, it was… very difficult. It is due to my abilities in Legilimens that I was able to stay in control as much as I did – but even then, my control was not commendable."

"So I heard. My… new associate here noticed your strange behavior." The snake smiled tauntingly, and appeared to change his mind about what he'd been planning to say, "I just realized that you have not met the man to my left. My apologies. Severus, meet one Tyki Mikk. Mikk, this is Severus Snape."

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm sure," Tyki Mikk greeted. They were close enough that the man held out his hand to shake, but Snape took one look and sneered. He would _not_ touch such a person, not if he could help it. That small moment of fear was enough to remind him to stay clear of this man as much as possible. He appeared to be some sort of contact to their new ally, the manufacturer of the Akuma, and that was all he needed to know. It made him wonder – if this man was Dark enough to make even _him_ flinch more readily than Voldemort, what kind of a person must the manufacturer be, to hold in check such evil? He didn't think he wanted to know.

"I fail to care, Mikk," He tilted his head just slightly.

"Call me Tyki," The man didn't miss a beat, frustratingly enough. It showed that at least he was familiar with reactions such as these, or at the least, his nature was one of calm disinterest. And dark amusement, if the emotion shinning in his eyes now were what Snape thought it was. It was disquieting – the other had an air of darkness to him that was not confined to his mind only, and he did not know how to describe the feeling of anxiousness that it gave him. This man was not caged unwilling. This was a beast that did not strike because it did not feel like it; but should he change his mind, Snape did not know if Voldemort's presence would be enough to deter the other.

"I hope you two get along, as you will work together frequently from now on," Voldemort said calmly, "However – please, continue your story. What caused you to be in such a state?"

He did not hesitate, for that could be misinterpreted as trying to think up a lie, "I found myself very unaware and confused. The spell allowed me to control the Akuma's movements, but in the process, it seemed to cover my mind. I could not think straight, and large chunks of my memory were gone. I regret to say that my mind was so scrambled, that I could hardly remember your orders, my Lord."

"That will not do. However, in the end you did, did you not? You were witnessed to be quite adamant in your violence toward Potter."

"Yes sir," he lied subtly, because he had hardly remembered at all. In fact, the only reason he'd attacked was because, combined with his blood lust and anger, he had thought he'd seen a certain Potter – and he had, technically, but it had been another he'd seen. He could hardly say that the main reason he'd failed was because he'd caught a glimpse of green eyes he knew very well. At first the sight confused him – what was James doing with Lily's eyes? But then his memories began to rush back in a painful barrage of information, and that delay had been all that was necessary. Before he knew it, his Akuma shell had been destroyed.

"We will have to work through the small kinks we will no doubt find along the way. Lucius!" The man at the side of the room noticeably jumped, which was both shameful and dangerous, "What do you think?"

"T-think of what, my Lord?"

"Where do you think Potter will go, Lucius?" The Lord asked patiently, looking as if his question had been obvious. Snape couldn't help think that the answer, at least, was even more obvious.

"I cannot profess to _know_, My Lord. I would think he will be placed someplace safe, somewhere heavily warded. Perhaps somewhere they would hope we would not think of," Lucius replied in a whisper, perhaps paling even further.

"Of course, Lucius. Potter would not have been placed in a dangerous home, and it is both likely and unlikely that is the case – but even with the knowledge of where he is, it is almost useless if we cannot reach him. The ministry stands in our way, but it will fall soon. Potter will not have long to enjoy himself."

Snape did not say that it actually _was_ obvious where the Boy Who Lived was. Molly would not have rested until he was safe with the Weasley's after all. But it was true that even knowing that was little use to them. There would be wards aplenty between them, and their best chance was to take it easy now. His Lord seemed content to do so, now that he had such a large and powerful weapon behind him.

"Severus, you may go now. You have earned the right to rest – It would not do for you to make a mistake," He could only give a small nod, allowing his small bit of relief to be sensed by the Dark Lord, who was no doubt looking. "Tomorrow we will continue testing. Perhaps young Malfoy may yet discover a role for him to play. Lucius, go clean up those who were weak enough to die so early."

Draco looked faint, and his sweaty palms unfisted in his shock. His father tensed, but only nodded in a forced-relaxed sort of way. Tyki seemed to badly disguise his amusement, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Yes, My Lord," Severus bowed again, "You are most gracious."

He felt like he couldn't leave fast enough. The hallway was not far away, so he continued at a brisk pace. Lucius was close behind him, and it was a heavy presence indeed. When he passed the room he'd woken up in, the echoing of his footsteps stopped.

He traveled to his room, his pace quick and stiff. He dared not show just how tired he was for fear of somebody lurking, which was quite possible, and instead waited until he was inside his room, his door firmly shut. His room was warded and then sealed with all the privacy and security spells he could think of at the moment.

He was admittedly frustrated; what was there for him to do now? He had known plenty of the exorcists, though their timing _had _been impeccable. He hadn't ever thought that they would arrive in time, and as more and more time passed without any sign of them, his wary confidence in them had waned and grown weaker. Indeed, a second later and the last seventeen years of his life would have been a major waste. Now, though, there was no Dumbledore. Potter was on his own – granted he had his friends, but even so, he knew the boy better than the other knew of, and better than he'd like to admit. Potter would slip up, he always did; and it was that moment that Voldemort would strike.

He hardly knew what an Akuma really was, but then, nobody really seemed to. He had been present when Dumbledore had spoken to that fool of a Supervisor, and he found he had little faith in their ways. They had not seemed at all serious or trustworthy. Even more, he knew of the way of the Vatican, and _they_ were the most untrustworthy. To trust an organization they were in charge of was foolish. On top of that, he now had doubts that children such as that could ever defeat the darkness he had seen in that man, Tyki Mikk. If Mikk did indeed have a darkness inside that exceeded even the Dark Lord's, for even Voldemort's mind was more human than the other's, then how could the boy and his friends defeat the Darkness that was stronger than the foe they originally thought was their only one?

There was little to nothing he could do anymore though. He had no one that he could give information to any longer, and no allies. His current 'allies' were hardly fit to be categorized as such, and his previous ones could not hate him more. He was alone. But this was good, because that was what he was used to. It was what Snape wanted for himself. Potter could learn quite a bit from that, but then, the boy had always been insufferable. It would probably be a wasted lesson.

Sighing heavily, he stood and shuffled to his dresser, where he pulled out a Dreamless Sleep Potion that he always made sure to have plenty of. He downed it quickly – though it would be better had he taken it with food, he didn't think he'd be able to stomach anything. He peeled off his outer layers before collapsing on his bed in uncharacteristic gracelessness (He'd never claimed to be graceful, but he'd never flopped into any surface before either.).

He could only hope that these Exorcists were more skilled than their outward childish appearance painted them to be.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey dudes and dudettes. You know, I've been getting some pretty awesome and helpful reviews lately (thanks for that, btw, you guys are pretty awesome), and a few have pointed out that Mrs. Weasley's name has been erased every time it was used. Now, I don't know why that is, because it's not like that in the original, but I hope they have been changed. I've tried going through, correcting whatever was pointed out was an error, and replacing the chapters. Hopefully it'll be okay now. Anyways, the whole 'Meet and Greet' Mini-arc thing is over! Now we move on to a little bonding… or something. I dunno, I write this thing as I go (incorporating the idea's me and my muse, Yuurei, come up with as I go.) Read on!

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

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Three days later, Allen woke up to a scream. It was high pitched and probably a woman's – his first reaction was one born of necessity. He rolled out of bed (yes, really rolled, almost missing his landing in his tired state and hitting his head on the headboard as he went), and then slipped on a piece of discarded cloth he distantly recognized as his cloak. He was up and shaking his head very quickly, stumbling out of the room that he shared with the other two exorcists.

He wasn't the only one to burst out into the hallway in a rush; Mr. Weasley appeared from a door down the hall, with whom he exchanged a startled glance with. When the wizard seemed as clueless as he was, he checked for Akuma even as he headed toward the stairs. He found none, but he didn't slow – one thing he had learned so far was that this time, he had more to be wary of than just Akuma. As soon as he reached the banister he vaulted himself over, landing in a crouch that he kicked off from. Ginny and Hermione had been there, and had witnessed his stunt. Both gasped and almost looked amazed, Granger covering her mouth in her surprise.

He burst into the main sitting room just as Kanda did, followed closely by Mrs. Weasley, Ron, and Harry. His heart beating at a fairly quick rate, he scanned the room.

Lavi stood off to the side, staring into a mirror on the wall in absolute horror. He spun, letting out an indignant squeak,

"Can you- can you see what they _did_ to me?"

The boy's normally red hair was a bright purple – with blue polka dots. His skin was a very pale blue that was very ugly against his green eyes.

Allen's heart slowed as realization set in. Off to the side, he heard a menacing 'shink' of a sword being drawn. He felt a distinct annoyance set in, and stood up straighter as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Lavi," he started pleasantly, "Did you just scream like a woman, waking me up and scaring half these people out of their wits?"

"What? No! I don't scream like a girl!" The redhead, actually, previously red headed exorcist, exclaimed, "And that's not the point! Can you see what they _did _to me? I'll never be able to show my face in public again! The old Panda will disown me, or something, because you can't look at me and take me serious – wait, no, I'm sorry!"

Kanda held up Mugen threateningly, fire in his eyes. Allen cracked his knuckles angrily, both exorcists advancing slowly.

Mr. Weasley burst in then, followed by the girls Allen had passed and the twins. The father took a surprised look around the room, taking in the menacing auras of his guests as they ganged up on the remaining exorcist.

"What happened?" He asked, frowning.

The twins began to laugh; from the background they gave each other high fives, ignoring the looks they were receiving.

"Lavi, I will promise you that if you ever do that again, nobody will ever find your body," Allen hissed.

"You stupid, idiotic, pathetic excuse for an exorcist," Kanda snapped, swiping his sword through the air as air around it whistled.

"Look, I'm really sorry, really!" Lavi pleaded, "But I deserve _some_ sympathy! Look at it!"

"Fred and George Weasley!" Molly rounded onto the twins, who shrank back, "I tolerate most of your silly pranks, but how dare you treat a guest of this house with such disrespect!"

"We're sorry, mum," both muttered in what appeared to be a kicked-puppy look; it seemed their mother was impervious to it, "It's not like we gave him a permanent nose bleed, or something…"

"…You can do that?" Lavi asked in horror. At the mischievous grin he received, he paled and shrugged, "Well, uh, no harm done, right? Let's just, uh, get on with our day, yeah?"

Kanda angrily sheathed his sword with some heavy aggression. Allen himself gave one last warning glare before backing away, aware of the stare he was getting from Harry. He moved toward the door he'd come from, rolling his eyes and wishing that sometimes the other didn't act so childish.

Mr. Weasley stepped aside from the doorway after a split second of hesitation, the twins following suit. The girls looked surprised, and then blushed as they also parted way for him. He gave a nod of gratitude as he passed them. The other two might be bereft of manners and maturity, but at least _he_ could offer some.

He was aware that his shirt was left open; he hadn't buttoned it all the way last night and the rest must have come undone in the night. It was too big anyway – Mrs. Weasley had given it to him the night before to sleep in, as well as some slacks that he'd had to roll up quite a bit. He pulled the shirt closed to hide the many scars across his chest that he didn't really want other people to see, let alone a few young girls.

Back in the room he'd been given and shared, he pulled out the clothes that had been given to him to wear today. It was an old pair of black pants that he only had to roll up twice, though he still let them drag a little, and a white dress shirt. Thankfully, the shirt fit quite well, and he also rolled up the sleeves a ways to allow better movement. He didn't bother with shoes, as his boots were currently being washed (Molly had insisted – he hoped that they were actually washable), and the ground was pleasant underneath his bare feet.

He rather wished he had his own clothes, but the order for the sudden departure had been unexpected. Generally he kept a suitcase always ready, because he hardly ever truly unpacked it, but he had been unable to grab it this time. None of them had, so they were all rather at the mercy of these people. Of course, they _could_ go out and 'buy' clothes at the expense of the Order, and he rather hoped that he could. He was unsure if he could, since he did not think there were any non-magical clothing shops around here somewhere that would put it on the Order's tab.

The whole situation was extremely bizarre and perhaps a little frustrating too. The Weasley's had gone out of their way to be kind and hospitable, bar that one incident a few moments ago. Harry seemed inclined to give them a chance, instead of downright distrusting them like Komui had warned them of. Hermione and Ron seemed quite different, but they were manageable so far. The Lupin fellow was a bit worrisome, but more than anything, he was worried about the length of time this mission would be, as well as the mission itself.

Because it was all for innocence, it wasn't the time itself that bothered him, so much as all the things that could go wrong. They were at both a severe disadvantage, and extreme advantage. At any time could the scales tip from one to the other, and it would no doubt be the deciding factor of any and all battles, and perhaps even the mission itself. The mission was mind boggling – Once he'd gotten his mind wrapped around it (it wasn't too hard, simply because magic wasn't as strange a theory as he'd first thought) then he'd been forced to deal will all the trouble that it would bring. The Innocence's resistance to it was definitely heart lifting though.

He went ahead and slipped back downstairs, where he was dragged to breakfast. He couldn't complain, his stomach rumbled loudly.

Mrs. Weasley (as well as anybody who didn't know him personally) was shocked by just how much he could eat. He was a little more careful with his manners here, but still, food left his plate as fast as it was placed there. Molly had risen to the challenge admirably – it had almost looked like a feast during the following meal. There was nothing left, and although he did miss Jerry's cooking, the food here was still splendid.

"There you are! Take a seat, take a seat!" She urged with a bright smile, all traces of raging mother gone.

Kanda was mysteriously missing, but mostly everyone else was there. He took a seat with Lavi to his right and Hermione to his left. The plate set before him was huge, and he eagerly began to eat. He was careful to keep himself in check. They were less likely to understand his need for food as a parasite type.

"So, Harry," Mr. Weasley smiled, "Your birthday's next week! You must be excited! Tell me, is there anything you want in particular?"

"Oh, no!" Harry blushed, "No, really, I don't want anything."

"Don't be ridiculous," The wife scolded softly, "Seventeen is a big birthday! I'll make a cake for sure – who would you like me to invite?"

Allen tilted his head to the side curiously, listening to the conversation. He paused to take a drink of water before resuming. Eventually the conversation drifted to the prank pulled earlier.

"I don't really know much, other than what I've read, but magic seems pretty amazing," Lavi, now back to normal, grinned and nudged him, "Think of all the things we could do!"

"It is," Hermione replied matter-of-factly, "But magic is also complicated and often times complex – there are certain rules for us just like there are for you."

"Are there really? Well, you know, rules are just meant to be broken!" He wagged his eyebrows, which was only a little hard to tell, what with his hair hanging down today. Hermione wrinkled her nose, apparently disagreeing.

"He's kinda right, you know?" Ron laughed lightly, as if amused but not wanting to show it much.

"You would know," Fred smirked and George cut in, "Didn't you break major school rules, like, every year? You, Hermione, and Harry were almost expelled how many times?"

"Like you can talk!" Hermione snapped, face flushing in either embarrassment or anger, "You and all your pranks got you in so much trouble!"

"But you have to admit we went out in style," Both echoed each other with a large grin. Curious, Allen paused long enough to ask,

"What happened?"

The twins' eyes lit up in excitement, and Ginny made a show of rolling her eyes.

"You would have had to been there to realize the true brilliance! But, the gist of it is," Fred started.

"There was this one teacher, right? She was a real-," George continued.

"George!"

"Anyways, she was a right pain in the neck, and everybody hated her!"

"He's not joking either," Ron nodded sagely, "She was a real piece of work."

"Right, well, we decided we'd had enough. So, we-."

"Put on this huge show, complete with fireworks and-," He listened to the story, covering his mouth when he laughed. Often Ron or even Harry chimed in with small details or some such that made the story even funnier. The mother at the table sighed and shook her head ruefully, but had a small secret smiled all the same.

"What happened afterwards? Did you go back?" Lavi leaned in closer, eyes sparkling in similar mischief.

"Oh no," both spoke, "We have our own joke shop now, and it's doing really well."

"Joke shop?" The older exorcist's eyes lit up like Christmas morning come early.

"Don't even think about it. Kanda would kill you, Lavi," Allen cut in quickly, coughing in his hurry to speak.

"Not if he doesn't know it was me, right?"

"You have a death wish, don't you?"

It was a serious question, but he was ignored. Breakfast passed quickly after that. Mrs. Weasley forbade the explanation of some of the twins products in hope Lavi would forget, but the three mysteriously disappeared as soon as everyone's eyes were turned. Molly suggested that Ron and Harry introduce Allen to the de-gnoming of the garden. They agreed, which left him feeling curious and a little apprehensive.

Outside, he was led to the garden, where the other two seemed to size him up.

"Alright, all you have to do… actually, since he doesn't have a wand, what does he do?" Ron looked at his best friend with a frown, crossing his arms.

"Well, normally," Harry fingered his own wand with a thoughtful face, "We would stupefy the gnomes, and then throw them out. It's simple, really, but since you can't really do that…"

Allen briefly wondered why they hadn't thought of this before they'd brought him out here, but didn't actually say so.

"Why can't I just… catch them? Or something."

"….Well… You think you could?" Ron looked him over again dubiously, "You could try, I guess."

And so the first time he spotted the little creature, he was admittedly startled, but at least he knew what he was looking for. It was easy to catch them, though his first one reacted violently, biting into his left arm. He lifted it from the ground in faint amusement, as it wasn't like it actually hurt or anything. Then, picking it off with his other hand, he turned to his charge,

"And now I… do what with it, exactly?"

"Throw it," Ron replied with a shrug, and when he continued to stare, the other sighed, "Here, let me see it, I'll show you."

He was a little horrified when the little creature was thrown as hard as the Weasley could, disappearing into some brush a little ways away.

"You just… throw it? Just like that? What about the poor noombs?"

"They're gnomes," Harry corrected.

"And why worry about them? They're just gnomes," Ron added.

"And you're _just_ a wizard," Allen replied, frowning. He felt slightly guilty for dismissing something of their culture that seemed normal, but as far as he knew, stunning and then just tossing a creature like that which had done no real harm? He went ahead and caught another anyway, all the while wondering if maybe there was some other, better, way to go about getting rid of them. He ignored the creature when, as he held it, it started to chew on his left arm.

"Oi, Bean sprout," Kanda called, falling into sight from around the barn. Eye twitching, he responded automatically,

"There's no one here by that name, sorry, but if I see them I'll be sure to let them know you're looking for them," He glanced over as the swordsman sent an annoyed glare his way, "Oh, did you mean me? Because, you know, my name is _Allen_, Bakanda."

"Do you two do that all the time?" Harry asked, with a faintly amused grin.

"Only because this guy probably is so illiterate he can't read my name correctly."

"Are you trying to start something? Because if you are, I'll give you a handicap, just so that maybe, just maybe, you might be able to keep up with me," Kanda sneered.

Allen twitched and threw the first thing that happened to cross his path, and that just happened to be the gnome he'd half forgotten about. It hit the swordsman right in the chest and latched on, digging its teeth into the man's shoulder. Kanda let out a few interesting curses that made even the two behind Allen blush a little, before he threw it hard enough that it disappeared into the distance.

"… Hey, think you can do that a few more times with the rest of these things?" Ron dared to hope, which was met with a flat stare.

"Hey, don't be such a jack ass. Can't you just manage to be a little helpful, or is that a little too difficult for you?" Allen snapped.

Ron and Harry watched the brutal exchange of insults in shock and slight awe. Even when it slowly died down several minutes later, they made sure to tread carefully.

"Do you both, uh, always do that?"

"Huh?" For a minute, Allen wore a confused expression before it lit up in understanding, "Oh! Yes, unfortunately. Kanda is almost incapable of having a conversation like a normal person."

A gnome just so happened to conveniently run from one bush in front of the Japanese, who scooped it up with a kick and sent it flying at him. He caught it, of course, and then after glancing a few times, tossed it several feet into the growth outside the fence, his annoyance at the other overcoming his own dislike of the method.

"Usually, I just ignore him and hope he goes away," He added thoughtfully.

"What a lie. You can't ever ignore me – if anything, I ignore you because you're so short, I can almost forget your existence."

Harry winced at this, having been the butt of many short jokes before he'd grown. And because the insult had been perhaps a little too harsh. If their expressions are anything to go by, he thought, I'd better distract them before somebody does something they'll regret.

"So, uh, do you guys see each other often? You almost seem like friends."

"Except not," Kanda cut in easily.

"Unfortunately, I see this jerk often enough. But how you think something like that, I'll never know," Allen shrugged with a frown, indeed befuddled. He toed the dirt – then he noticed that Kanda had his boots back, which made him wonder where his were.

"...Well," The two wizards glanced at one another after a moment of awkward silence before pretending to act normal as they started in on the gnomes again. They decided they had better do as Hermione had suggested several nights ago, and ask some questions, "How many exorcists are there? Besides you guys?"

"Hmm," Allen hummed softly, ignoring the other exorcist who leaned against the fence in an obviously bored and impatient stance, "Well, there's me, Kanda, and Lavi obviously. And then there's Lenalee, Krory, Miranda, Marie, Bookman, Chaoji, and then the three generals… That's all, I think. At least, that was all when we left."

"Wait, wait," Harry shook his head a little, "Are you saying that, to combat the Akuma things or whatever, there are a grand total of _twelve_ of you?"

"It's a little more complicated than that. You can't just sign up to be an exorcist – it's not nearly so simple. But, there are a lot of other people, and they all are really useful too. Like, Komui!"

"That sister-complex is more trouble than he's worth."

"You mentioned him before," Ron cut in, glancing a bit warily at Kanda, "Your superior or something, right?"

"Yeah. He has this bad habit of making these robots, called Komurin, and they always seem to malfunction – it's always a lot of trouble, and it's not really funny till you look back on it."

Allen went ahead and told them a story about the very first Komurin – and they even laughed a little, particularly when he added the part where the robot drank the coffee. He even found that he was enjoying himself. He would almost go so far as to say it was fun, except there was still a sense of distance between them that made proper joking really hard. Luckily, by the end, they seemed to be able to connect; this was good because it brought them a little closer, and being closer meant that they would be able to work together easier.

He would have continued, but a loud cat mewl cut through the air, capturing everyone's attention. They all turned to look, and it was only the exorcists that could really understand the scene for what it was.

It was a long haired cat that was chasing a familiar flying gold object at top speed. Allen had no idea where Timcampy had been all this time, but he knew letting him get eaten again would be very bad.

"Timcampy!" Without a second thought, he took off. He heard a startled gasp behind him, and then pounding steps of the wizards following. He wasn't sure if Kanda was as well, but he also didn't care enough to look.

He rounded a corner, and almost tripped on some large discarded tool or another. He leapt over it deftly, landing in a run, and heard the other two stumbling behind him. His golem was up ahead, already gaining a good lead from the feline – after all, it could outrun many Akuma. But the cat was crafty, and kept lunging and practically bouncing off things in its eagerness to reach it.

Annoyed, he called out again. The sound of his voice made Tim hesitate, and it almost cost him a hit to his wing, but he dodged and lunged forward once more.

Then he turned another corner and managed to scare the cat away by knocking an empty paint can over. He reached his golem within seconds and pulled it safely into his grasp.

"See Tim, all the trouble you make me go through?"

He shook his head at the rather large golem, which rubbed cheeks with him fondly. The wizards rounded the corner then, and had no time to stop – they collided and went down in a tangle of painful limbs.

"Hey Ron, have you gained a pound or two?" Harry joked before wincing when somebody's elbow met his ribs.

"Comfortable down there, Bean sprout?" Kanda appeared then, startling and confusing the three before him.

Allen's reply came out too muffled to understand, but it was more than obvious not very nice. They struggled to push each other away without hurting each other or themselves – this was a lot harder to do than it sounded.

"… I don't think I want to know."

They all looked up then, freezing in unison. It was Lupin, arms crossed and looking down at them in amusement. His gaze briefly switched to the only other standing member, and he seemed to sober a little.

"Oh, Remus, hi. Bad timing, but nice to see you all the same," Harry gave a weak grin. They managed to stand a little shakily a few moments later, and he added, "Is there something you wanted?"

"There was. I had wanted to have a talk now," The werewolf's eyes shifted between them all, "All of us."

The hint was obvious, but Allen felt he had to ask,

"When you say everyone…"

"I mean you three, Harry, Hermione, the Weasleys, and everyone else in on this. It would be better to do this sooner rather than later," Lupin sighed softly, uncrossing his arms, "I would have been here yesterday, but things happen, I guess."

That was something Allen could agree with, so he nodded. Kanda was quiet, but the other two seemed to agree as well. They all started to shuffle to the house, and Allen made sure to grab Timcampy from the air, who had been the first to wiggle away. On the trek, Ron leaned over and whispered,

"Just what is that thing anyway? It kinda looks like a giant snitch, except not."

"That would make more sense to me if I knew what a snitch was, but I'm pretty sure Tim isn't one," Allen whispered back.

"How do you know if you don't know what a snitch is?" Ron replied with a pointed stare.

"Because I know he's a golem. Timcampy is my golem. He was my master's first though."

"Was?"

"My master died. Though Tim was with me before then anyways, he wasn't actually _mine_."

That seemed to sober Harry, who had had an amused smile the whole time. In fact, the boy gained a far away look, as if remembering something. He figured maybe the other had also lost somebody, perhaps recently? That was something he could really identify with.

Lupin opened the back door and loudly called to the inside. As they were led into the kitchen, Allen was surprised when the Boy-Who-Lived leaned in close and whispered softly,

"I'm sorry about your master."

The boy seemed sincere, and he smiled in genuine gratitude, though he did not mention that he didn't actually know whether his master was dead or not,

"Thank you. I often thought he was much too stubborn to die, but he was so good at getting on everyone's bad sides, I can't say I'm really surprised. I am… also sorry… about whoever you have lost recently. Death is always a sad thing."

Harry blinked, startled since he hadn't mentioned anybody's death, before smiling back, although a little sadly,

"Yeah, it is. I hope I can see him again someday, whenever that would be."

"Death is never the end," Allen replied earnestly, "I'm sure you will. After all, I'm sure that if death truly was the end, then Akuma really wouldn't exist."

This seemed to startle and confuse the boy, but at the same time, it relaxed him. The others remained silent. Perhaps in respect for the dead, or perhaps because nobody felt it was right to speak.

They entered the sitting room almost right after, and already everyone was gathered. On top of those already standing, there were Hagrid, who seemed to have come back, Tonks, Fleur, and Bill.

"We couldn't get a hold of Kingsley, but he's been working very hard, so I'm sure he's very busy," Bill explained when questioned by Lupin.

"Alright. I think it's about time we got started," Lupin turned to the two exorcists, who was quickly joined by Lavi, "Why don't you start explaining at the beginning?"

"Um, okay," Allen's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, Akuma are-."

"The very beginning," The werewolf interrupted, "There are a couple here that don't know you, after all."

Lavi sighed, running a hand through his hair, and said,

"Alright, then make yourselves comfortable. Since this seems like it'll be a bit of a long convo, and all."

And they did. Chairs were handed out, and Mrs. Weasley had tea already set out on the table between the exorcists and the witches/wizards. The exorcists remained standing if only to keep whatever authority figure they might have had.

"Let's get one thing straight though. It's only fair that info is traded for info, because we're as lost as you in that regard."

Bill looked startled, then apprehensive, and nobody seemed to want to speak. But then Molly cut in with a confident,

"That is fair, yes."

"Good!" Lavi entwined his fingers with a smile, "Now then. My name is Lavi – just Lavi. This here is Allen Walker, and Yuu Kanda."

Allen sighed and settled in for a long conversation, pasting on his most comprehensive, kind, and patient expression.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: A few notes:

I've used several lines from the book itself in this chapter, and used some others while rearranging or changing it. I think it was mostly dialog, and it's not a huge amount, I don't think. And there will be many cases of this from this chapter onward.

I'm trying to keep in mind that some people haven't read the 7th HP book, but I might forget sometimes, so if something seems odd because of that, sorry.

Somebody pointed out in a review that, once again, several names were deleted in the last chapter. I seriously don't know why it's been doing that, and I'm sorry, but I swear that it's not like that in the original. I hope it doesn't do it this time too…

And – You people are awesome.

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

* * *

The explanation itself was hard to believe, Harry thought. If he hadn't seen the creatures himself days before, he might not even believe it. Maybe it was because it was calling a lot of things he'd thought he'd known into question. He wasn't a Christian, so the story about Noah's Ark being fake wasn't upsetting or anything, but that the creatures were all _people_ – real live (well, not live, because they were actually all dead) people was astonishing.

The group hadn't quite gotten through the story about the Family of Noah, because Mrs. Weasley had seemed to have had enough. She had stormed from the room after exploding about how wrong it was that Exorcist didn't have a choice, even if they were only children (He was under the impression that they weren't really suppose to know that, but Allen and Lavi dutifully answered any questions thrown at them.)

They had all decided a break would be best, and everyone split up to do whatever it was they did during the day. The rest of the day passed under a very uncomfortable air that seemed worse than suffocating. The day after, Mrs. Weasley had everyone doing chores in preparation for Bill and Fleur's wedding – maybe she meant it kindly, but Harry found that he himself, Ron, and Hermione, were kept from each other constantly. After the first chore she asked of Kanda, which he did extremely grudgingly, he mysteriously disappeared, presumably hiding from what he'd known would have been an unpleasant experience of a long list of errands. Allen and Lavi were in the same boat that Harry was, but they were a lot better at hiding during convenient times.

Mrs. Weasley seemed to have become very fond of the exorcists. She babied Allen with a smile, and spoke to Lavi with a kind and patient air. She even seemed to be attempting to treat Kanda similarly -– he tolerated it while he was around with surprising patience. The others seemed also to be getting along better with the exorcists. Lupin had blown up once at Kanda during the explanation initially, but he appeared much better now; He even smiled faintly at a hilarious display between Allen and Lavi (that Harry was fairly sure was unintentional).

Even though what she was doing may have been meant kindly, it was still frustrating. He hadn't had a chance to talk to his friends, and he could only tell himself to be as patient and understanding as possible. He had tried sneaking to talk to them late at night, but she always seemed to check in on him at just the right time, and everyone was always so tired anyway, there wasn't much point, and just plain out asking to talk to them had been met with calm indifference and an impressive diversion technique.

When Fleur's family arrived, they acted polite and nice – it was hard to stay angry with them for all the work they had unknowingly caused for everyone. The family was all extremely pleasant and very decent people. They were pretty interesting also, and it was even more interesting to see how the exorcists reacted to the Veela relatives. All in all, they were welcomed warmly, and they tried to be as helpful as they could.

His birthday arrived just like any other day. He woke up feeling the same, and he wouldn't have even remembered if Ron hadn't been in the room and wished him a Happy Birthday.

"That's right!"

To revel in the fact that his Trace was gone, he summoned his glasses with his wand, feeling almost victorious. It probably would have felt much better if they hadn't poked him in the eye in the process.

"Nice going there, mate," Ron snickered.

Harry slipped out of bed and waved his wand around, mindlessly transferring objects around the room just because he could. It was great – it took a huge weight from his mind and filled him with relief. He'd almost worried something might have gone wrong, no matter the reassurances he'd gotten from Order members saying that even the Ministry couldn't pull any tricks.

"Hey, open my present up here; It's not for my mother's eyes," Ron grinned slightly, holding out his own present with a satisfied air.

Harry opened it slowly, just to savor the felling he had – it turned out to be a book.

"Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?" He asked in amusement_, "Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches_?"

"That book is pure gold though! It explains everything you need to know about girls. I wish I'd had this last year so I could get rid of Lavender and I would've known how to get a head start with… Well, anyway, the twins gave me a copy, and I learned a lot. You'll be surprised, it's not all about the wand work, either. Just give it a read – I'm sure you'll need it."

He laughed, throwing his head back. He couldn't help be amused, and he agreed he'd give the book a try. He dressed then before following his best friend down into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley chatted to Bill and Monsieur Delacour over a frying pan while they finished their breakfast. The pile of presents caught his eye.

"Arthur left early for work, but he told me to wish you a Happy Seventeenth, Harry. He'll be back for dinner; go ahead and open your presents. That's ours on top."

Mrs. Weasley was beaming at him, and he sat with a curious stare. The present that she motioned to was opened first, and inside was a watch. It was very similar to the watch that Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley had given Ron for _his_ seventeenth – gold, with stars acting as the hands.

"It's traditional to give a wizard a watch when he comes of age," she smiled nervously, "I'm sorry that one isn't new like Ron's, it was actually my brother Fabian's, and he wasn't terribly careful with his things…"

He stood and hugged her. He tried to convey his feelings without speaking, and she might have understood, as she gave him a smile and a clumsy pat when he pulled away. He fell back and sat back down just as Hermione rushed into the room; He briefly wondered where the exorcists were, since Allen was always one of the first in the kitchen in the morning, and if Lavi wasn't with him, then the other was always not far behind.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Hermione smiled sweetly and set her present on top of the others, "I know it's not much, but I hope you like it!"

It turned out to be a new Sneakoscope. From Bill and Fleur, he received an enchanted razor, though he was warned to be very clear when giving the thing orders. He got chocolates from the Delacours, and from Fred and George he got an enormous box of the latest merchandise from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He was surprised to find yet another box there at the table. It was small, not any bigger than his fist, and wrapped clumsily, but it had no tag or identification.

"I wonder who it's from?" Ron wondered as he wandered closer.

"You don't think it's from Allen, Lavi, and Kanda, do you?" Hermione asked, tapping her chin, "I wouldn't have thought they'd get you something."

"Neither did I," Harry replied in agreement, carefully peeling back the green wrapping. The box he opened just as carefully, and he looked inside.

A black blur shot out of the box, narrowly missing his nose. It stopped just above his head, wings beating.

"What is it? I don't recognize it… you think its dangerous?"

It was black, and shaped like a small oval – in the middle was what appeared to be an eye that glowed a faint green. Its black, feathered wings were long and wide, and it stared at him for several long seconds before letting out what sounded like a click. Then, from it, he heard none other than Lavi's voice, "_We couldn't really get you anything as cool as what you already have, so we decided to get you something only a member of our Order has – a golem! It does loads of cool things, I'll show you later, and uh-_"

He heard shuffling before both Lavi's and Allen's voice called out,

"_Happy Birthday, Harry_!"

More shuffling, and then he could have sworn he heard a grunt of pain before Kanda's voice mumbled an annoyed,

"_Yeah, whatever_."

With another click, Harry assumed that it had been a recording, and that it had ended. He was surprised, and curious. He'd never seen muggle technology like this before. This 'golem' really appeared to be some living creature, not something somebody created. It didn't look anything like Timcampy either, except maybe the basic shape of the body.

"So, like, when they say golem, they mean like that Timcampy thing, right?" Ron frowned, reaching out and poking the thing's side. For a moment, Harry feared it would reveal a giant row of teeth like the golden golem had, but it instead turned and chattered at the red head angrily. "What does it do?"

"Lavi said he'd show us later. I wonder where they are?" Hermione looked around, as if the ones she spoke of would enter any minute, but they did not.

"I 'ave never zeen anything like eet," Monsieur Delacour exclaimed, "It iz quite interezting!"

"You'll have to tell me what they say later," Mrs. Weasley added, "And be careful not to let Arthur get a hold of that. He'll have a heyday trying to figure it out."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione left soon after. The arrival of Madame Delacour, Fleur, and Gabrielle crowded the kitchen, and none of them was interested in sticking around anyway. Not when they had just gotten a chance to slip off and finally have a private word with each other.

Hermione offered to pack his presents, and took them from Harry's arms. But as she reached for his new golem, it shied from her hand, hiding instead behind his head.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to pack it anyways," he offered with a shrug, "I mean, it might suffocate or something…"

"Oh alright," She sighed, "I'm almost done, you know. I'm just waiting for the rest of Ron's underpants to come out of the wash…"

Ron sputtered in embarrassment, making mindless motions with his hands. Harry laughed, silently feeling a great fondness toward his friends.

Allen sighed softly, kicking up the dirt as he sat down beside Lavi. They were hidden by trees just off the end of the path where Harry's friends were supposed to arrive. It was fascinating, watching people come into existence with a loud pop (though, really, that was a bad description. He supposed that he could hardly expect a better one, when he didn't understand the whole process.)

"Nothing interesting?" Lavi asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Nothing other than the giant cake yards away," Allen sulkily replied as his stomach growled angrily, "I wish we could have eaten breakfast, at least…"

"We did eat breakfast, you black hole," Kanda grunted as he dropped from the tree above them, landing with a heavy 'thump!', "You just didn't get to eat a whole armies worth."

"I can't help it that I need to eat more than other people," Allen pouted, folding his arms, "I get why we're not with Harry right now, seeing as it's his birthday and it'd be a little awkward, but still…"

He was interrupted when Timcampy vibrated and swooped down to hover before him. He blinked before nodding slightly; seconds later, Komui's voice emanated from his golem,

"Allen?"

"We're all here, Komui," He replied, "How are you?"

"I would be just great, if you had been giving in your reports like you're supposed to!" The scientist sounded faintly annoyed, "First you report three days late, and now you are once again late. I'd have thought Lavi would keep Kanda's and your bad habit under control."

"Hey hey, don't blame it on me!" The redhead exclaimed throwing up his hands, "We've been busy, okay?"

"You're a horrible liar, Lavi," Komui said flatly; "Have you put that golem to good use?"

"Yeah, thanks for putting that together for us," Allen smiled slightly, "We're going to show Harry how to use it later."

"You better. I put a lot of work into fixing that one up!"

"Yeah, okay. How's everyone over there?"

"…. Actually, that's the reason I contacted you," Komui sounded grave, and Allen felt a brief spike of concern.

"What happened?"

"Recently, we got a lead about an interesting thief that called himself 'Phantom Thief G.' It was strange, because every time the authorities caught this thief, the person would have no memory of doing anything even remotely illegal. The jail has been filled with similar cases."

"Sounds suspicious," Kanda nodded, "What happened?"

"Well, we sent a couple of exorcists to the scene, of course," Komui was probably rolling his eyes here, Allen thought fondly, "In fact, we sent general Teidoll, Marie, and Miranda. It wasn't all that long after they arrived that we lost contact with them."

"Are they okay? What happened to the Innocence?" He demanded, sitting up straighter and ignoring Lavi's own concerned stare.

"As it turned out, there was another level four. As soon as we lost contact, I sent general Sokaro in as well, because I felt that something was certainly wrong. If not the general, then either Marie or Miranda would have made sure to call in if they could," Their superior sighed tiredly, the sounds of rustling paper in the background, "The Innocence was there, and it has chosen its wielder. It's a young boy by the name of Timothy, who was also the original thief. We have recovered him and the Innocence safely."

"And what was the result? Is everyone still in one piece?" Lavi tried to joke, but his attempt fell on deaf ears.

"Marie has lost several fingers in his right hand, and is still recovering from his extensive broken body. The generals are in much better shape, though they are recovering as well. Miranda… she is still alive, but I'm afraid that she's received a wound that will leave her out of commission for a while."

Lavi cursed quietly, gripping his hammer tightly. Kanda scowled, staring off to the side with an angrier-than-normal expression, while Allen glared at the ground, frustrated.

"I don't want to distract you with this information, and I would not have called for that reason, except Marie had something interesting to report. He said he saw something that, after a bit of research, I've identified as the magical creature called a Dementor. They're used by the magical world as a way to guard their wizard prison, but more than that, it's a known fact that they follow that Voldemort fellow. I don't really know what that truly means, but what it implies is huge. Not to mention that you thought you saw Tyki Mikk – it appears that you have your work cut out for you."

"No kidding? Well damn, there went my idea of this being an easy, if not long, mission," Lavi pouted heavily, mussing his hair in annoyance.

"Central has a big concern about this. Despite their less than savory opinion on magical folk, they're going to dispatch Finders to keep a close eye on the Weasley house. Any further action has yet to be decided, but keep your eyes, or in your case Lavi, _eye_ open. Keep me updated."

"Oh haha," Lavi muttered.

"I heard that. Just be careful."

Conveniently, they simultaneously heard the noise that signified new arrivals. Allen turned and spied through the trees Mr. Weasley as well as another man. The stranger seemed slightly tense, and Allen didn't think they were exactly friends – Mr. Weasley was too tense and fidgety, as if he was nervous about the other.

"We've gotta go, Komui," The Bookman Jr. stood, dusting himself off, "We'll be careful and try to keep you up to date, like you said. Talk to you later."

Before the scientist could reply, Timcampy hung up on him.

Kanda approached them from behind and touched his sword as he eyed the newcomers.

"Should we follow at a distance or…?"

"Since the guy's not Akuma, Allen, then you should stay here to keep an eye out just in case. Kanda and I can handle this, right Yuu?" Lavi grinned, wagging his eyebrow, though it was hard to tell. Kanda snorted, already stepping toward the path,

"I don't need your help, Cyclops."

"Maybe not, but I'm more afraid for the stranger than for you."

Lavi narrowly missed the tree branch that snapped back toward his face.

Mr. Weasley smiled, hiding his nervous tremor by fiddling with his wand,

"I'll just let them know we're coming, shall I?"

He didn't bother letting his guest express his opinion, and with a smooth movement, summoned his Patronus. The silvery glow of his weasel stood on hind legs, looking at him, before taking off into the air in the direction of his home.

A tree branch snapped and it was his nerves that had him turning around to look; he felt marginally better seeing his guest do the same. From the trees emerged Lavi and Kanda, and for a brief second he panicked – was his 'guest' an Akuma? Had he been about to lead one of those monsters into his home? Did their sudden appearance mean anything at all, or was he jumping to conclusions?

"Hey there Mr. Weasley, we were just looking for you. Mrs. Weasley was getting a little worried," Lavi waved as he approached, appearing for the entire world like a friendly teenager. In fact, if not for the strange eye patch, he would appear as exactly that; the old clothes he'd been given fit him well, worn and homely. Even Kanda looked normal, but not friendly. The glare he wore was alert and aware, and he locked gazes with the man he didn't know. His guest was obviously unnerved by the unwavering stare, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Oh yes, terribly sorry," Mr. Weasley nodded slightly, making the slightest motion toward the newcomer, "I was held up you see. Well, anyhow, this is Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic. Minister, this is Lavi and Kanda."

"Friends of your son's, Arthur?" Rufus asked politely, shaking hands with Lavi and holding out his hand toward Kanda, only to be ignored. Arthur didn't bother to confirm or deny the question, and instead smiled when he received a reassuring nod from the American exorcist.

"I just sent a message to Molly we were on our way. Are you going to accompany us?"

"If you don't mind. After all, we have yet to say Happy Birthday to Harry face-to-face."

He nodded, distracted. As they all fell into step together, he wondered why they weren't at the party, and were instead all the way out here. Moreover, Allen was strangely missing as well. Usually he was the one that was at the forefront of the little group, and the swordsman was the one who often made himself scarce.

They rounded the corner and the party came into view seconds later. Mr. Weasley silently congratulated whoever did most of the decorating, because whoever it was, they'd done a good job.

Lavi covered his frown with a quiet yawn. He glanced at the Minister from the corner of his eye. For someone in such a powerful position the man appeared old and scraggy. He looked like a tired old man – and although that wasn't _odd_, per se, it was a little of a let down.

He watched the man continue to the table where the large cake was (he noticed it had an uncanny resemblance to Timcampy, and decided it must be modeled after a 'snitch', whatever that was). Rufus cleared his throat and spoke, "I apologize for interrupting, particularly now that I see it's a party I am interrupting – Many Happy returns to you, Harry Potter."

"Thanks," Harry replied indifferently.

"I require a word with you, Mr. Ron Weasley, and Miss Hermione Granger."

"All of us? What for?" Ron wondered with a frown, pausing in what he was doing.

"I shall tell you when we are somewhere more private. Is there such a place?" Rufus looked to Mr. Weasley, who started.

"Yes, of course there is. How about the sitting room, why don't you use that?"

"You can lead the way," Rufus nodded at Ron, "There will be no need for you to accompany us, Arthur."

Lavi blinked, startled and suspicious. He glanced at Kanda, who didn't appear to be troubled one way or the other, but having known the other as long as he did, he noticed the slight narrowing of the eyes and bunched shoulders. He caught the swordsman's attention, then gave a small jerk of his head toward Harry and his friends who were just starting to walk away.

Kanda turned away sharply, already heading back to where Allen should still be. Lavi rolled his eye and quickly jogged to catch up with Harry, calling out the boy's name.

"Lavi?" Harry turned in surprise.

"Yeah, can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked, "It won't take long at all."

The Boy Who Lived glanced at those waiting for

him and nodded,

"Real quick, right?"

"Right right, real quick," Lavi gently but firmly tugged the other away a fair distance, motioning to the wand at the boys waist. Harry complied, mumbling protective spells under his breath, and when he was done, the red head nodded slightly,

"I'm under the impression that this guy is bad news. Right or right?"

"We think the ministry has been infiltrated by Voldemort, and that they're not trustworthy. So, pretty much, yeah. It's a long story."

"Right. Do you have any idea what the man might want with you three?"

"Not really. Maybe, if he somehow found out that we're planning to drop out of Hogwarts…" Harry trailed off with a worried expression.

"If that's the case, I'm not all that worried. He's a powerful man right? Well, I don't think someone would come here on something so small, even for you. Whatever it is, I want to give you a couple of tips with your golem, okay?"

Surprised, he nodded, looking to see that, yes, the oval golem was still there, floating around his head as it had been since it'd been released from that box. Lavi reached out and it landed on his hand obediently,

"In all honesty, this has a few more abilities than a normal, standard issue golem. It has some of your DNA in it – just hair from your brush, and Ginny got it for us," he grinned as the other's mouth snapped shut. "So if you're ever lost or we get separated, Timcampy can always track it. Keep it by you. It can also find the general location of Tim, and it has an alarm built in – if it is destroyed, Tim will know. Also, if you're ever in trouble and you don't have time to give a call with details, just remember, simply say 'alarm' and it'll go off."

Harry frowned, a little irked that he could be tracked (and he was sure that he wouldn't be able to get away from it, short of magical means). He picked the creature up when it was held out to him; it stared up at him and let out a couple of low-key clicks.

"So if something goes wrong in this little meeting, say that and we'll be there. I know that times are hard right now, but you gotta trust us. I'll show you the rest tonight."

"Alright, I guess. Thanks," He tilted his head with a small smile and nodded, letting it into the air once more, "I'll try to remember."

"Okay, then I'll see you soon. Happy Birthday, by the way," The exorcist gave him a lopsided smile, scratching the back of his neck.

"Thank you," Harry replied sincerely.

They parted ways then, and he watched the other walk leisurely away; he met with the group waiting.

"Alright?" Scrimgeour asked, though he didn't seem concerned.

"Everything's fine, sorry about that," as soon as the Minister's back was turned, he mouthed 'later,' toward his friends, who seemed only a little annoyed by the lack of information.

The meeting turned out to be for Dumbledore's will. Harry was angry that the things left for them had been kept until then – it had been kept to be looked through and searched, and since the thirty-one days were up, the Ministry had to return the items. They had proved to be neither dangerous nor suspicious.

As it turned out, Ron was left a Deluminator, which could suck out all the light in a place, and restore it. It was something Dumbledore had designed himself, and Ron was shocked to have been remembered and singled out by the old wizard.

Hermione received a book titled '_The Tale of Beedle the Bard_,' which looked extremely old and worn. It was an old children's tale, told to magical children, just as Beauty and the Beast was to muggle children. She was touched to have it – she shed a few tears, and held it tightly.

To Harry, he received the very first Snitch he'd caught in a Quidditch match at Hogwarts. He was surprised, and then felt a sense of disappointment and anti-climax. The Minister questioned him, and explained that not even their maker ever handled snitches, and that it had a charm to recognize the very first person to touch it. When he had taken it, nothing had happened, but he hadn't really expected it to.

He was also left the sword of Godric Gryffindor, but he was not allowed to have it – Rufus claimed it was not the old wizard's to give away.

In the end, the meeting ended in raised voices, and he could only be glad when the man was gone.

He remembered his first Quidditch match, reminding Ron and Hermione who were amused. He'd nearly swallowed the snitch when he'd caught it, and when he pressed it to his lips, nothing happened. At first he was even more disappointed than before having hoped that there had been at least some kind of hint, but then he noticed the writing that appeared for a few seconds before disappearing again – it read:

_I open at the close._

* * *

A/N: Another chapter up and gone! Whoo! I rewrote this thing twice, so I hope it's good. Also, my birthday is Wednesday! The 13th, so yay for me! Make sure you read the notes at the top, they're important.

And leave a review on your way out! (And if you do, you are seriously awesome and deserve a lifetime of cookies).


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I would have had this out a little sooner, I think, but I was pretty much gone all weekend, and I just got my electric back after two and a half days of being in the dark… literally. (Problem with our electric box.) Anyways, this is where it picks up for a little while and gets the story moving again (It took the first seven chapters to do this? Jeeze…) So, thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

* * *

Lavi frowned, scratching his head. Today was the wedding – the one Mrs. Weasley had them running all over to make perfect, and while he could appreciate the ceremony for what it was, he found that it was a lot less enjoyable when forced to stand in the blazing heat like he was.

The Weasleys had made a joint effort to disguise him, and it was actually pretty convincing. He was glad he hadn't had to drink the apparently nasty potion that Harry had. Instead, because he already could pass as a distant Weasley cousin, he had a handful of glamour spells cast on him.

He was a fair bit shorter now – Allen hadn't let him live it down that the other was taller now, and kept throwing the Bean sprout nick name right back at him. He had several more freckles too, and in his boredom had played connect-the-dots with the ones on his right arm. His hair was a little shorter, and a duller red that fit in quite well. The only real issue they'd had was disguising his right eye, or lack thereof. So after turning his remaining eye brown, they'd kept the eye patch, but styled his unruly hair to mostly cover it.

And so many spells piled like that was very itchy.

Harry sighed from his left, though now he appeared completely different after he'd drank some potion or another (With human _hair_- how gross was that?).

"When're they all going to arrive? This heat is seriously killing me, or something," Lavi complained, pulling at the collar of the supposedly 'fancy' robes that he'd been forced to wear. They were uncomfortable, and it was only the fact that this was necessary that kept him there.

"Or something," Harry agreed with a tired nod, "It shouldn't be too long, probably."

"You wizards are crazy – who'd want to get married in holy matrimony in weather like this?"

His gaze found the gold-jacketed band and white robed waiters that sat not far away under a tree. The marquee behind Harry was beautiful, he guessed, with golden chairs on both sides of a purple carpet. There were white and gold flowers entwined with the supporting poles, and butterflies floated around lazily.

"When I get married," Fred replied, mirroring his own actions, "I'm not going to bother with this mess. Everybody can wear whatever they want, and I'll make sure Mum can't interfere with a full Body-Bind Curse until it's over."

"She was better this morning though. I mean, she cried a little 'bout Percy not being here, but who wants him? Oh blimey, brace yourselves!" George exclaimed, motioning to the distant boundary of the yard where people appeared out of nowhere, "Here they come."

"Oh joy." Lavi muttered, wondering whether to curse his friends for getting out of this, or congratulate them for it. The best part about his whole situation was that at the least it helped solve his curiosity a bit. He wondered if the old man had ever been to a magical wedding before – he'd never mentioned it, but he was sure that Bookman had known about the magical community.

The people were dressed brightly, and it didn't take long before they arrived, forming a procession.

"Oh, excellent, I think I see a few Veela cousins," Fred grinned, turning for a better look, "They'll need help understanding our English customs, so I'll just go give them a hand…"

"Not so fast," George laughed and darted for the group of women heading for the procession, "Wouldn't want you to lose any more unfortunate limbs, yeah?" And to a pair of particularly good looking girls, he smiled and said, "_Permettez-moi_ to _assister vous._"

"Hmm… don't know what the heck a Veela is, but damn~," Lavi wolf whistled after them as George led the girls away, and they giggled, "Maybe this might not be so bad after all…"

"Don't get ahead of yourself," George laughed, "Wouldn't want you to get your heart broken, one-eyed-wonder."

"Who, me?" The exorcist gave a devilish grin to the group of middle aged women left behind, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He wagged his eyebrows at Harry and Ron, who both stood to the side with a smile, before approaching the group.

Harry watched as the other gave an extravagant bow and spoke in a low tone – whatever he said made the women smile and even chuckle a little. He walked toward the seats with a woman on both arms.

"…Did he just do what I think he did?" George pouted, "I'm afraid this is war!"

The twin promptly went searching for more Veela family with a determined shine in his eyes. Harry shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

Harry was left to himself for a minute or two when Ron was taken to show Mr. Weasley's old Ministry colleague Perkins. It didn't take long before he found himself busy as well, and he moved to show a rather deaf old couple to their seats.

Lavi looked around as far as he could, half hoping to see Kanda or Allen, but wasn't surprised when he didn't. His eyes caught the eyes of women who he'd helped find their seats, and he winked. Or, at least, that's what it was supposed to be, but it was hard to wink at someone with only one eye. Either way, they seemed to understand, and one even blushed a little.

He was able to spot Harry a few seconds later, and he moved to stand at the boy's side. He felt a little better about being by the other again, which is where he was supposed to be in the first place. Having so many people around was making him extremely jumpy and nervous. Usually he didn't have this problem, seeing as he had to deal with it on a daily basis, but he hated being around a huge group like this who could do something powerful like magic when he himself could not. It was frustrating.

"-Few wizards realize just how much we can learn from the wise little gnomes. Or, to give them their correct name, the _Gernumbli gardensi_."

The Boy-who-lived was already talking to a man who looked strange, even in his rather new open-minded-ness. Bright yellow robes, a cap with a tassel, and some odd necklace that resembled a triangular eye.

"Ours do know a lot of impressive swear words, but I think Fred and George taught them those," Ron replied in slight amusement, disappearing as a group of warlocks needed his help. Lavi noticed a girl in similar yellow robes rush toward them, startling Harry when she spoke,

"Oh hello Harry, and Harry's friend!"

"Er – my name's Barny," Harry frowned, straightening his robes.

"Oh, did you change that too?"

"How…?"

"Just your expression," she smiled brightly, "And who's your friend?"

"Oh, uh, this is Larry. Larry, this is Luna," The boy nodded a little nervously, and Lavi wrinkled his nose at the fake name before giving a bright smile,

"It's nice to meet you," He greeted as kindly as he could.

"It's nice to meet you too, Larry. We'd get along very well, since our names started with the same letter," she replied.

"Why the past tense?" Harry ruffled his hair a little.

"Why, because it's not his real name, right?" At the redhead's surprise, she added, "Oh, but I won't tell anyone, don't worry!"

Ron wandered up about then with an elderly witch clutching onto his arm. Lavi was quick to guide Luna and the man he guessed was her father to their seats. He was a little fascinated by the peculiar views the two seemed to share, but he wandered back to where he'd left his charge anyway. There, he found that Ron had returned with an elderly witch clutching his arm.

"Uh, yeah, Auntie Muriel, this is our cousin Barny… and his brother Larry," Ron introduced them with the story they'd already discussed. Though, Lavi was honestly annoyed by the name – it was so unoriginal, and he thought it screamed 'fake!'.

"More Weasleys? You breed like gnomes," She rolled her eyes, "Didn't you say you were friends with Harry Potter, Ronald? Whatever happened to him anyway? I had hoped I would meet him here, but rumor has it he's mysteriously disappeared."

Ron's face changed into surprise,

"Disappeared?"

"Well yes, haven't you been paying any attention to anything? Honestly, kids these days! So lazy and uneducated! Harry Potter was reported missing over a week ago! Nobody seems to know what happened to him."

"Well, if nobody knows, I wouldn't know either. Maybe he's on vacation or something?"

Lavi snorted softly, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Don't be ridiculous! Perhaps he finally had some sense knocked into him and left. I know I would have in his place. Now, Ronald, find me a good seat – I'm a hundred and seven, I shouldn't be on my feet too long."

Ron was gone for a while after that. Lavi stuck to Harry the whole time, or at least as much as he could. He could have sworn at some point he'd seen somebody with long black hair, which was unusual for this particular crowd, and it had disappeared from sight way too swiftly to be anybody else. He'd even thought he'd briefly seen a face that blended in with the rest, and the only reason he'd really noticed was because he could have sworn that that face had some kind of scar on it – he couldn't remember what it was and he'd felt a strong urge to look away and forget, and that was exactly why he was sure it was Allen. He didn't think anyone else other than Kanda had 'Notice-Me-Not' Charms on them at the moment.

After what had to have been dozens of people they'd help seat, they finally got a break and Ron managed to make it back to them again.

"What a tough crowd," Lavi joked, leaning back in his chair.

"No bloody kidding," Ron muttered in annoyance, wiping his forehead, "I _almost_ wish Fred and George would do something. I can't wait until this is over."

"I don't know, I think it could be worse," Harry shrugged, "I mean, it could certainly be better, but it could still be worse."

"I didn't take you for an optimist," The exorcist chuckled, "Then again, I didn't take you for much at all."

"Oh, thanks," He replied, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I'm not an optimist, but it's really annoying to always just think things couldn't get any worse, especially when they could be. I mean, Death Eaters could crash the party or something for all we know, but they haven't, so things _could_ get worse."

"Hey!" Ron hissed, "Don't bloody jinx us, alright?"

The conversation was cut off when Hermione appeared, heading toward them.

"You look great!" Ron blinked.

"Strike!" Lavi gave a two-thumbs up, "Hey, why don't you ditch these two and come dance with me? It takes two to tango, you know."

She laughed, blushing slightly. She wore a floaty, lilac dress with matching high heels, and her hair was sleek and shiny. She practically glowed, radiating joy and excitement.

"Thank you. Great Aunt Muriel doesn't seem to think so though. I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur her present, which was a tiara, and she said, 'Oh dear, is this the muggle born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"

"Well, from what I've seen, she doesn't seem to really know good quality when she sees it," Lavi grinned and wagged his eyebrows suggestively, "Seriously, hold a dance for me."

"Are you flirting with me?" She asked with a slight smile, ignoring Ron, who was glowering just enough to be noticeable.

"Only if you want me to be," He winked then, and she just laughed. From his right came an annoyed voice and a pinch in the side,

"Can't even leave you alone for a minute! Can't you behave yourself, just this once?" Allen sent him an exasperated glance.

"Allen! Old buddy, old pal, how are you?" Lavi gave an overly large grin, clapping a hand on the other's shoulder.

"Fine," The white haired boy rolled his eyes slightly before nodding to the girl, "You really do look nice, Miss Granger."

"I told you, Hermione is fine," She replied, glowing with the complements she was receiving.

"So where's Yuu?" Lavi looked around for good measure, but because he couldn't turn his neck all the way around, missed the dark figure that approached and slapped him on the back of his head,

"Don't call me by my first name," Kanda growled, pushing his hair over his shoulder.

"What's wrong with your first name?" Harry asked with a tilt to his head in curiosity. He flinched from the glare sent his way.

"It's a Japanese thing," Lavi replied with a hard grin even as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're not supposed to call somebody by their first name unless you know them really well," Allen supplied.

"But Yuu is my bestest friend!" The redhead exclaimed.

"It's one-sided," Kanda snapped, glancing around with a frown. He shifted minutely, and Harry could have sworn that he'd seen the outline of a sword through the fabric for a split second.

"Aren't you supposed to be on the outskirts or something?" Ron mumbled.

"Yeah – we just stopped by to make sure everything was okay. It is, right?" Allen looked between them all with a concerned stare, and it made Hermione smile, "Lavi's not harassing you, is he?"

Lavi squeaked a little, pretending to be offended.

"Everything's fine," She assured with a laugh, "Or at least as fine as it could be, I suppose."

"Alright, then we'll get going," Allen waved over his shoulder as he turned, and within seconds was out of sight. Kanda was nowhere to be seen by the time anyone looked.

"I wish I knew how you guys do that," Ron complained, "It's like you just disappear, and you don't even know magic…"

Lavi didn't reply, as his eye was too busy watching yet another approach their small group. He wasn't sure who they were, which was no surprise, but he seemed dark, and possibly dangerous. The other walked with confidence and when he reached them, held out an invitation to Ron,

"You look vonderful."

"Viktor!" Hermione almost shrieked, dropping her small beaded bag that the exorcist was sure sounded a whole lot heavier than it looked. She hurried to pick it up, blushing, "I didn't know you were – goodness – it's lovely to see – how are you?"

Lavi raised an eyebrow in amusement, wondering at the connection. He watched Ron's ears turn red, and was a little surprised when the Weasley glared at the invitation murderously,

"What are you doing here?"

"Fleur invited me," the stranger replied as he shook hands with Harry. It was also hard not to notice the stares of bewilderment they were getting.

He didn't follow his charge when the other went to seat the stranger, and instead turned toward Hermione,

"And he is…?"

"Viktor Krum. He's a very famous Quidditch player," She replied as he followed his example and stared after them.

"….?" He waited for more, and when she didn't continue, Ron did instead,

"She went out with him, back during this one tournament that Harry got suckered into."

That explained things a little.

Fred came hurrying down the aisle then, telling them that it was time to take their seats,

"Unless you want to be run over by the bride," he added.

They took their seats quickly, and Lavi looked around in curiosity. People continued to talk and whisper in excitement, but then a hush fell about them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley strolled up the aisle, smiling and waving at relatives. Music began to play from the balloons, which fascinated him to no end. He looked around, wondering if the other two exorcists were as amazed as he was, but they were nowhere to be found.

Monsieur Delacour and Fleur appeared next, bouncing along gleefully (or in Fleur's case, gliding as if on air). The bride was beautiful, even in the simple white dress she wore. Today, instead of stifling others with her beauty, it seemed as if her presence fell upon and enhanced everyone else's instead.

"Ladies and gentlemen," started a small wizard, "We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls…"

Lavi listened to the usual speech that he could recite himself if he wanted to. He tried to stay as alert as possible, because this seemed the prime moment for trouble, but his attention kept being drawn elsewhere. He started mouthing the words, though often there were slight differences in the version he knew, and the one being read. When Harry asked him in a low whisper, he mumbled,

"I've been to one or two weddings before."

"Just one or two and you can recite the words?" Hermione asked in disbelief. He grinned, tapping his temple,

"Photographic memory."

She seemed startled, but they were drawn back to the present,

"Do you, William Arthur, take Fleur Isabelle…?"

The mothers were quietly sobbing in the front row, and what sounded like a trumpet came from the back – he knew enough to know that it had been Hagrid.

"…then I declare you bonded for life."

Lavi watched as silver stars fell on the entwined figures heads' from the speaker's wand. The balloons burst, and birds of paradise and tiny golden bells flew out and floated above them. He silently hoped that the birds were either fake, or had more room in those balloons than it looked like they'd had.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! If you would please stand up!"

As they did, gasps rose from the back. Turning his head, he had a hard time seeing what was causing the commotion as there were quite a few people behind him, and most were taller than his currently shorter form. He could see Harry, Hermione, and Ron trying to check it out as well from his peripheral. He frowned slightly, when a shiver went up his spine. Feeling goosebumps, he decided to screw manners and stood on his chair. Ron and Harry hesitated to follow his lead as Hermione scolded all three of them.

From the back stood someone that Lavi finally recognized at least slightly. It was the big black guy, Kingsley, that had been part of the fight when the exorcists had first rescued Harry.

"What's going on?" Said boy wondered as Mr. Weasley walked down the aisle and called out to Kingsley. The auror didn't reply, and instead looked around as if fascinated by everything. He stood with his legs spread, and his head never turned enough to lose sight of the crowd. Lavi recognized the signs of someone ready to flee, and that didn't fit with the man's character.

Mr. Weasley approached with a smile, ignoring the large crowd at his back,

"You're quite late," He said, "Is something the matter?"

Kingsley didn't answer, and Lavi jumped down from his chair, hurriedly moving into the aisle and regaining sight of them. Then Mr. Weasley did something very stupid. He turned around, giving his back away, and opened his mouth to call out. Whatever he was going to say was drowned out when, in a flourish of silver, Allen appeared with his Innocence already activated.

At that same second, Kingsley's face split in half, his skin tearing like paper, and somebody screamed in fear and shock.

Lavi froze instantly. If Allen was already there, then there was no need for him to abandon his post. He took long strides, ignoring the scream he recognized as an akuma, and yanked Harry and the other two from their chairs just as Kanda appeared. A small explosion sounded behind them.

"The bean sprout says he's picked up on a handful of akuma headed this way, and they're probably accompanied by wizards."

"Impossible!" Hermione hissed, "The Ministry-"

"Is irrelevant," The swordsman interrupted, "The wards around this place is going to fall any second. Where's your golem?"

"Well, _I_ have it, uh," She pulled out her purse, and within seconds was holding the oval creature in the palm of her hand, "Why?"

There was another explosion that rocked the ground and then everything was chaos. People were instantly running around, away from the akuma, and Harry could see a ball of fire rise above the crowd and felt it as the wind carried a distant heat.

And then there were at least a dozen level one akuma hovering in the air, and Death Eaters lunged from the trees.

Harry felt fuzzy, disoriented. It was like an abrupt switch that left him unsure. Hermione was panicking, spinning with her wand drawn, and he grabbed her to make sure she didn't somehow wander off. He tugged her closer, and he was aware of Lavi half-dragging them away. A spell shot toward them, but before he could lift his own drawn wand, Kanda seemed to materialize before them and the spell shot off in some other direction after hitting his sword.

Somebody shoved them hard, and he tumbled into Hermione, who fell on Ron, and they struggled back to their feet in a panic. Lavi grabbed his shoulders, forcing him straight,

"Listen to me," The exorcist demanded, "Apparate to somewhere safe. Stay there. Do not leave, do not come back, and don't try anything heroic. Stay there until we contact you. Got it?"

He wanted to say no, but he heard a shout from behind him, and then felt Hermione's long fingers grip onto his arm before he felt himself being pulled harshly backwards. He felt like he was falling, falling away from the chaos, and maybe even Voldemort himself.

A deep sense of helplessness overwhelmed him, and he could only hang on as he was pulled through space and time itself.

* * *

A/N: Just one question: Do you think I should keep to the book, modifying it just to fit in the exorcists, or do you think I should start to diverge from the original plot (even more)? I think I was going to diverge, or something, especially since I skipped a few scenes that would affect it. But what do you think?

Reviews and constructive criticism is extremely welcome! Including ideas, or maybe small events/scenes you think you might like to see (seriously, because I don't give hardly any thought to what I'm writing before I write it – it just happens. I bet it'd be better if I did, but I would get way too bored of it if I did. This way, the endings just as much a surprise to you as it is to me!)


	9. Chapter 9

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

* * *

It was chaos, the kind that left you disoriented and trying to gather yourself back to your senses – and failing. The guests were rapidly disappearing in that strange magical way of theirs, and those that remained were the members of the Order. The invaders showed little mercy, and there was a mix of humans and akuma. The level ones fired bullets that took out the environment; fancy decorations went flying in splinters.

Allen ducked under an awry spell that was a bright red, fairly sure that it was an extremely good thing he did because half the row of chairs behind him exploded, sending a white rain of broken wood around.

He went for the akuma first – there was a large handful of Level One's, and when he jumped high into the air, he brought his parasite arm down to plow through one and stab another, landing on a third. Another spell was fired at him, and bounced off his cape with surprising ease. He filed this away for further thought later.

He could hear Lavi shouting, and seconds later a huge hammer annihilated a large amount of the Akuma, slamming into the ground a ways away and leaving a huge indention in the ground like a giant footprint.

He silently hoped the wizards were doing alright, but the akuma were his first priority. Another exploded to his right when what appeared to be other worldly insects drilled through it like it wasn't even there. He landed on the ground and ducked another light that glowed green. A warmth pressed against his back and he heard Lavi shout over the noise,

"What a way to crash a party!"

Allen laughed as he dodged under a wand and sent a straight punch into someone's stomach; the man went down and didn't get up again.

Kanda danced into sight, his sword sheathed, as he delivered an uppercut to some hooded figure that had actually tried to hit him. He didn't give the person a second glance as he stepped over the prone body and grabbed another hooded figure by the hood, swinging the figure to the ground with a hard throw and knocking the person out.

"Brutal!" Lavi called carelessly, "Remind me to never crash _your_ wedding, Yuu!"

The redhead ducked a flying body with surprising ease, as if he'd predicted the act, and whistled as the body hit and knocked over another two Death Eaters.

"Nice!" He crowed, "Do it again!"

Allen rolled his eyes and made his point by slipping away and putting a few people in between himself and Lavi. He didn't feel like fending off violent reactions from the temperamental swordsman at the moment when he could be doing something more useful.

The numbers dwindled fast, and he felt a sense of surprise. The enemy wizards were easy to defend and fight against, and there had only been Level One Akuma, so far as he'd seen. The Phoenix Order members, or whatever they were called, were formidable in their own way, though if the Innocence didn't reflect the spells like they did, the whole process probably would have been much harder.

Then it was just as the last Akuma was destroyed that the ministry members appeared, and it wouldn't have made any difference to the exorcists, but Mr. Weasley made quick, jerky motions for them to stop and lay low.

It was Ginny who stepped up to their sides and pulled them away discreetly, before the chaos had even completely calmed. She took them away, all the way to the barn, where she turned to them,

"It's probably best that the ministry doesn't see you here…" She looked between them, her hair in disarray and her clothes dirty, "… What will you do now?"

They looked between themselves then, silently conferencing while keeping a very close ear out for anybody approaching or any fighting. Allen nodded minutely, and then gave her the slightest of smiles,

"What we came to do, I imagine," He turned a little to look into the air and called, "Timcampy!"

The yellow golem flew in through the crack in the doors almost immediately, hovering close to his head,

"Can you connect to Harry's golem, Timcampy?"

It bobbed in the air twice before it went still and then clicked three times. Silence fell, and it took several long seconds before there came another click, followed by Harry's uncertain voice,

"_-don't know what it's-_"

"Harry?" Allen called, and after another moment of silence, Hermione's voice called in worry and a tinge of excitement,

"_Allen? Is that you, Allen_?"

"Hermione? Is my brother there? Everything alright?" Ginny cut in, moving to stand close enough to the white haired boy's side that he shifted a little uncomfortably.

"_Ginny? We're alright, how's everyone there_?" Ron asked anxiously.

"We're okay! The ministry's shown up, and I can't be here long-"

"Where are you?" Kanda demanded impatiently. He tugged his shirt, which had been ripped, back onto his shoulder.

"_We're in a café shop on Tottenham Court Road. We've only been here a few minutes, and we've been talking about where to go next-_"

"Okay," Allen cut in, "Can one of you, just one, come here real quick and get us?"

"…" There was no answer for a few seconds before Hermione volunteered herself, and after Ginny had said a quick goodbye, the connection closed. She left then, so as to appear at least a little less suspicious, and just as she disappeared from sight outside the barn door, there came a loud pop announcing Hermione's arrival. Kanda pulled her in instantly, and for a moment she struggled.

"Cut it out," He growled, and she stilled instantly. She tilted her head up, saw him, blushed slightly, and then took several steps back. He pulled his ripped sleeve up again.

"We need to be quick," Lavi reminded them.

"Okay, so just…" Hermione held out her arm, and once they were all connected, Allen felt the horrible sensation he'd learn to associate with appparation.

When the world seemed to stop spinning, he found himself in a dark and dirty alley way. He noticed briefly that the sun was setting, and the oncoming darkness sent a shiver down his spine.

"Just out this way," She said and stepped out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. The exorcists followed, and it was silent as they did. Part way there, a few guys across the street elbowed each other, pointing at the witch that walked just ahead and in the middle of the group. One man whistled and made beckoning motions. They ignored them and stepped into the café shop.

Allen spotted Ron instantly, and was startled to find that he couldn't see Harry anywhere. He didn't say anything, because even though there were few others in the shop, they were still possible enemies.

Hermione slid into the booth Ron sat at, and Lavi went to slide in on the opposite side, but was startled when he heard a hushed,

"Hey!"

Lavi smoothly moved to the edge so he wasn't sitting in Harry's lap anymore, and grinned,

"Neat trick," He tossed his hair back, "Should have known that you'd be able to do something like that, or something…"

He didn't look at where he knew Harry sat, but eased over until he had the boy pressed against the wall, and mumbled without moving his lips,

"Don't want to look weird, yeah?"

Allen tried to sit on the edge as much as he could without seeming strange, and Kanda leaned against the seats with his arm crossed, keeping his ripped sleeve away from casual glances.

"What should we do now?" Hermione asked anxiously, "We need somewhere to go rest and think things through, and hide from V-Voldemort."

"How about the Leaky Cauldron? It's not that far, we could just-"

"Ron! You know we can't!" She cut off Ron with a shake of her head, "We can't go there."

"It's just a suggestion," He muttered, "What else is there?"

They all lapsed into silence then, each thinking to themselves. Ron, Hermione, and Harry would have missed the arrival of a handful of men, they were so deep in thought, had Allen not nudged them under the table. Harry could see why he had.

The group looked a lot like a typical group of tough men. The one at the front seemed to be the closest thing they had to a leader, and he was dark and scruffy. Something about him screamed 'dangerous' and feral. The others were plain and nondescript, and they were talking amongst themselves in low voices.

They walked in and appeared bored and uninterested; The leader's eyes fell on Allen's group and only paused a moment before going on, but as soon as they took several steps more toward a booth not too far from Allen's own, the man froze and then his eyes found them again, his head tilting up just a little, like he smelled something strongly.

"Recognize him?" Lavi asked, still without moving his lips.

"Not really," Hermione replied as if they'd been in the middle of a conversation, "Do you?"

"Nah," The redhead shrugged and sat back, "But for the record, I'm not a piece of meat."

This last sentence he said a little louder, and the feral looking man raised an eyebrow.

"What're you doing?" Allen hissed in annoyance, "We're trying to stay _un_-found, remember?"

"I do, actually," Lavi said, crossing his arms as the other group sat a few tables away. He sighed softly.

The other group laughed boisterously, one of them knocking over a chair on purpose. The waitress hesitated to go over, and when she did, received a few nasty comments and a slap on her behind. She stormed away angrily, her make-up twisting her face even more.

"What a bunch of idiots," Kanda rolled his eyes.

They were all surprised when the leader looked their way and stood. The man took long steps with equally long legs, and stopped around five paces away,

"I couldn't help but overhear-" Ron and Hermione traded looks of disbelief, "- that you seem to have a problem with our presence."

Ron frowned, unwilling to say much to the man. He felt Hermione grip his arm, and was shocked when Kanda replied with a tinge of annoyance,

"Overhear? How about eavesdrop? Mind your own business."

The man tilted his head and his eyes sparked in some unknown malicious intent. The men at his back stood, faces grinning with similar feeling,

"I haven't gotten your name?"

"Didn't I just say to mind your own business?" Kanda just barely pushed off from the seats he'd been leaning against. The shift between leisurely leaning and standing alertly was very subtle, but Harry noticed it.

"'ey, maybe 'e needs a drin'!" One of the men exclaimed, "Or mayb' e's as bitchy as 'e looks?"

"Hmm…" The man pretended to ponder this while Lavi smacked his face against his palm, "Perhaps you're right. What do you say?"

The man was lifted from the ground completely as Kanda gripped his shirt in one hand,

"I say you better get the fuck out of here if you want to live."

"You know, I think you just took the words right out of my mouth," Then the man's face twisted into such monstrous glee that the Japanese dropped him, reaching for his weapon, "I'd been hoping to capture Harry Potter before dark, but he gave us the slip at the wedding."

"'ou don' stan' a chance again' Greyback!" One shouted when Allen and Lavi stood, with Lavi crouching on the seat in front of Harry, who himself was shocked both at the name and at the fact that he had not immediately recognized the other. How could he have forgotten even briefly what Greyback, of all people looked like? Even if he did appear a little more tame and less feral today.

At the sound of the name, Hermione gave a gasp and Ron shouted,

"He's a werewolf!"

The exorcists started, but then Greyback laughed and all at once began to change just as the last sliver of darkness disappeared from the streets outside.

Greyback's face began to stretch outwards, his hair growing and spreading. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his bones broke and healed, growing and rearranging. When his legs snapped, bending backwards and stretching, he leaned his head back and howled.

Allen was admittedly horrified by the sight, and he stood, ready for an attack at any second. A hand fell to his shoulder and he knew without looking that it was only Lavi; He was eased back until they had traded places, and then Lavi shifted to partially cover Ron and Hermione as well. The waitress slumped to the ground in shock, fainting dead away. The few other customers present fled in shrieks and cries.

Greyback snarled and stood there for a second, recovering from the change, and then swept his arm back and out, sending Kanda crashing through a table and into the wall. He fell into the remains of the table with a grunt.

Allen activated his Innocence and covered himself and Harry with his silver cloak when spells were rapidly shot out at him. He could feel them bouncing off and hopefully right back at the group of attacking wizards. He heard Ron and Hermione shouting spells of their own, and shoved Harry under the table,

"Try to stay hidden," He told the young wizard, and ignored him when the boy tried to speak.

He noticed first that the giant wolf seemed to have little control, or he just didn't care about his teammates – he sent one flying when they got too close. They would have slammed into Allen, but he caught them, knocking them out and throwing them aside.

Harry felt like yelling as he sent spell after spell at the opposing group, and kept moving around so they couldn't pinpoint his position. He slipped over to the opposite side of the booth that Ron and Hermione were at, and managed to send someone else's wand flying.

"How'd they find us?" Hermione cried in panic, dodging a stupefy.

"No idea," Ron growled through gritted teeth, "How could they do it so _fast_ is what I want to know!"

The werewolf threw Lavi aside and suddenly lunged at Harry just as he fired another spell; and in that moment, things seemed to freeze. The magic being shot around the room was the furthest thing from Harry's mind, and he felt a cold fear deep in his gut. He could not move, not at all, and for a moment, he remembered the Akuma attack at his house where he'd been in a similar predicament, though this case seemed to be one of fear, rather than some kind of magical binding.

Then a black blur slammed into the wolf's side and both hit the ground hard.

Everything seemed to speed up again, and he rushed over, words ready. There was a snarling ball of fur and flesh, rolling around in the splinters and glass, and he barely got close before someone shoved him down.

"What're you doing?" Lavi growled, and he realized his cloak had slipped partially off and now only his lower half was invisible.

The wolf roared as gashes appeared on its back, and Hermione switched her wand to another burly man who looked at her with a little too much interest.

Kanda's booted foot found the wolf's chest and he heaved. It was flung back with force, its back hitting the ground, and it let out a howl of pain when its shoulder was pierced by a broken table leg. Kanda growled, rolling his shoulders and drawing his sword slowly.

The wolf almost seemed to laugh just before the blade entered its brain, but then it was still.

Allen managed to knock out the last two in a double hit, and for a moment relished in the fact it was over, but then spun and took note of the injuries.

Kanda stood over the werewolf and spat to the side just to spite it; he appeared to have little more than scratches, though he was turned away at a difficult angle. Lavi wiped his forehead with the back of his hand; the trickle of blood from under his hair seemed to be the worst of his injuries. Harry appeared dazed, as did Ron and Hermione, but other than the somewhat deep cut on Ron's cheek, they all seemed fine too.

"I just don't get it!" Hermione cried shrilly, "How could they track us so fast?"

"It doesn't matter," Lavi replied calmly, rolling over one man with his toe, "It just means we need to be more careful and to cover our tracks better."

"But it does matter," She argued, "What if they can keep doing whatever it is they did?"

"We won't know until we leave and see if they can track us again," Allen told her as he de-activated his Innocence, "Is there any way to wipe their memories and clean this place up?"

"…I don't know how to wipe memories," Harry spoke up shakily. Ron agreed, but Hermione frowned,

"I know the theory, so I might…?" Her hands shook as she lifted her wand.

They cleaned up quickly before she looked to the men.

"Where are we going to go?" She asked tentatively.

"Grimmauld place," Harry said immediately, and then added at her rebellious face, "It's the only place we have to go – even if Snape might be there, at least there's only _one_ of him and six of us."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but instead looked once more at the men and the waitress and waved her wand,

"_Obliviate_."

They were gone before the others could even stir sleepily.

Allen was startled that when they arrived; there was no sign of a 'Number Twelve,' as the large, intimidating buildings completely skipped that number. He figured then that it was a magic thing, and it turned out he was right. He didn't even see the door until they were on the front steps.

Inside, he found that the place was old and dusty.

"I think somebody's been here before," Hermione whispered, pointing toward an umbrella rack that had been knocked over. The 'shink' of metal sounded as Kanda drew his sword with narrowed eyes.

"What the _hell_ are those?" Lavi exclaimed as he motioned to the house elves' heads mounted on the walls. He waved his arms in disgust, "I'm serious, what the hell are they?"

"House elves," Hermione explained with a wrinkled nose, "Those are the heads of house elves."

"Is that normal?" Allen asked with a grimace.

"It's sick," Lavi complained.

In the following silence, Kanda lost his patience and hissed,

"What're you waiting for?"

Harry was the first to take a step in; the area was crowded with all six of them anyway. He trembled slightly, and waited…. Then a sensation occurred between them all. It was as if his tongue had curled in on itself, making it impossible to speak. Before he could feel inside his mouth, the sensation passed and he could talk again.

"That must've been the spell put up against Snape…" Hermione offered.

"Hopefully," Ron muttered. After a moment, Harry took another step forward,

A horrible figure rose from the end of the hall, made of silvery dust. It was a figure he knew well, and as it raced toward them, its long beard blew back, its eyes sunk in its head, Hermione screamed.

"It's not my fault!" Harry exclaimed in rising panic and remorse, "I didn't do it, I'm not the one who killed you-"

On the word 'killed', the figure exploded. The portrait of Sirius' mother exploded similarly with noise, Mrs. Black screaming insults.

And then, suddenly, an umbrella pierced the portrait and stuck out, vibrating from the force of the throw. With a bang, Harry magically forced the curtains closed, a small bulge from the umbrella in the fabric. Silence reigned for a few moments longer.

"…I'd say I'm sure I'm going to die early if things like that keep happening, except I already knew that," Allen sighed, dusting himself off.

"Don't be so morbid, little Allen," Lavi laughed, though it came out shakily, "Nobody's dying anytime soon."

Hermione gave a wan smile and looked at them for a long moment,

"Let's just hurry and get inside, so we can rest."

Everyone hesitated to move again, but finally Allen brushed by them, sweeping into the first room he came to on his right. He found himself in the sitting room, and paused there, listening as the others piled in behind him.

Hermione was tired, and as she followed behind Lavi warily, she knew she needed to think straight, but her mind wasn't playing along. It refused to work up to speed, and the only real thing it wanted to do was replay the events of the past few hours. Nothing happened as she entered the sitting room, and she relaxed just a little more.

She sighed,

"Okay…. So?"

"So what?" Lavi sat down heavily, sending dust everywhere. He coughed hard a few times, "This place needs a make over pretty badly."

"This was my god-father's house," Harry told them softly, "It's mine now. I think we should be pretty safe as long as Snape doesn't come back."

Hermione listened while she pulled up her small beaded bag that she had made sure not to let go of. She opened it and rummaged around for several seconds. The sound drew the others' attention, and she blushed slightly when Allen asked if she needed some help.

"I packed your things just yesterday, when you gave them to me," She explained, "They should be right… Here!"

She pulled out what appeared to be a mini-suitcase, small enough to fit between her fingers. With a wave of her wand, it enlarged and she watched the boys' eyes light up.

"Excellent!" He took it from her gently and opened it. She was too tired to be annoyed by his paranoia, and went searching once more in her bag. It took her a few minutes, but she found Lavi's own rucksack and then managed to pull out a suitcase similar to Allen's that belonged to Kanda.

He approached and took it from her, gripping the handle with a frown. When he turned around, probably to stand at the other side of the room, she saw something strange.

She reacted on instinct, calling for him to wait just a moment, and reached out to grab at what she'd seen. His shirt was black, so she was surprised when she pulled her hand back and found blood on her fingertips. She stared in shock before jumping up in horror.

"Hey, 'Mione, what's up?" Ron asked in alarm, pushing to the edge of his seat and staring at Kanda distrustfully.

"You… you-you," She struggled with what she wanted to say, horror, disbelief, and dread curling up inside her stomach.

"What happened?" Harry reached for his wand, and the swordsman stared down at her in annoyance. He was not expecting her to suddenly reach out and snatch the edge of his shirt into her hands and pull it up.

She stumbled back from what she'd seen, ignoring the other's murderous glare.

"Hey, I didn't take you to be that forward," Lavi tried to joke, looking between the two with a frown, "I know Yuu's pretty but-"

"He's been bitten!" Hermione wailed, falling back into her seat, covering her face with her hands. Ron was immediately at her side, trying to comfort her as well as he could, but she continued to sob, with Lavi and Allen leaned back away slightly, unsure.

"What?" Harry exclaimed in shock, looking to the swordsman, who didn't seem to appreciate being in the spotlight, "Seriously?"

"Wait wait wait," Lavi interrupted, "What's going on? What's the problem?"

"Don't you get it!" She yelled in distress, "He's going to become a werewolf!"

* * *

A/N: Haha. That right there is, like, one of the main reason's I wanted to do this story. For real. Kanda's my favorite character, personally, and I absolutely love wolves (and werewolves) so I was all "This is necessary. I have to do it." And my muse agreed with me. So. Yes. Took me nine chapters, but finally. (Honestly, I thought it'd take a lot longer, and maybe it _would _have been better if I waited, but I think I can work it better this way. We'll see, I guess.) And I'm surprised. When I asked, Everyone said they want me to diverge. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I'm surprised all the same.

Anyways, reviews, ideas, and criticism are all welcome! (Especially ideas.)


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Just a quick note this time. I've gotten a few reviews in which people have blocked the PM feature, or something, so that I can't reply. I always reply to everyone, because it's a lot of fun, and just because. But when some people have the feature turned off, I can't reply, which is fine if you don't want me to, but a couple have asked questions, and I can't reply… so, you know, if I don't reply before the next update, it's because that feature is turned off.

(And who freaked about Kanda's bit? I wanted to, and I wrote it!)

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. Beta'd by Harukohaha

* * *

To Harry, the air between them all suddenly seemed strained and uncomfortable. It was almost as if what little trust they had with the exorcists was shot away into the dark – not gone, but nowhere to be found at the moment either.

Personally, he didn't want to think about the new turn of events. The fact that the swordsman had gotten so grave a disease defending him almost physically hurt. He didn't know the other particularly well, and probably liked him a little less, but it was still gained looking out for his interest. He was also surprised. If he didn't know the other hadn't known about it, he would've been even more shocked, as he hadn't thought the other was the self sacrificing type.

But he still owed Kanda a huge debt.

He couldn't tell what Hermione thought, exactly. She often stared into space, and seemed to always find a reason to leave when the Japanese came around. She was sad, guilty, and unsure, as if she didn't know what to think, and Ron shared this problem. Though, when Ron wasn't avoiding the exorcists, he was glaring at them instead. It was as if he thought Kanda had done some horrible, dishonorable betrayal – or was about to.

Kanda was gone from sight almost the whole day, and when he reappeared, seemed only a little more irritable than normal. He didn't appreciate being stared at, and almost got into a huge verbal fight with Ron. Allen sometimes glanced at Kanda in curiosity and worry, but that was about it. Lavi was his usual happy self.

The air was lightened a little when, on that first night, Ron's father sent a message to them through his Patronus. Everyone was okay, the ministry was watching them, and not to attempt to contact them. It was nothing the exorcist hadn't told them, but hearing it from Mr. Weasley made it seem official.

Harry did figure out one thing though – R.A.B, the person who had taken Voldemort's locket before he could, seemed to be Regulus Arcturus Black, Sirius's brother. The hope of finding the original locket was lost, though, when Kreacher revealed the fact that although he'd stolen it back, Mundungus Fletcher had stolen it in turn. Harry felt a sudden bout of kindness when he heard the house elf's tale – that Kreacher had been forced to drink the poison that sat in the basin, where the locket had been kept, and left for dead – and gave him the fake locket. The turnaround in his attitude was amazing.

Afterwards, he ordered Kreacher to find Mundungus and bring him back. The house elf disapparated and did not return that night.

Perhaps the most amusing thing during their time there was when he had first summoned Kreacher. He'd never seen Lavi freak out quite as bad as he did then. It was the first time he laughed that hard in what seemed like a long while; but it was also an eye opener. That something like a house elf was strange and foreign to the exorcist who he couldn't seem to think of as muggle was kind of an awakening of some sort.

Harry took to wandering. He'd found a letter from his mother to Sirius, and though it made him happy, he was still extremely restless. He excused himself from the group of himself, Ron, Hermione, and Allen to go to the kitchen. He was sure that was where Kreacher would arrive at.

Just as he reached the hall, though, he heard footsteps outside the front door, tapping, and then the locks rolling open. He felt like he'd gotten an electric shock. He pulled out his wand, heart jumping wildly, pointing at the door.

The intruder was dressed in a black cloak, and the features couldn't be seen. The intruder closed the door softly, and when the ghost of Dumbledore appeared in all its haunting glory, said calmly,

"It was not I who killed you, Albus."

Dumbledore turned to dust and disappeared. In the resulting dust cloud, he could see nothing and prepared to yell a warning, but suddenly he heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed that he was starting to become accustomed to.

"Don't move!" He yelled. He'd forgotten about the portrait of Mrs. Black, and the curtains flew open as she screamed with a surprising intensity he hadn't quite heard before. She didn't even shout words anymore, the sounds between the screams were hardly recognizable as English. Allen, Ron and Hermione rushed down, wands drawn, and stood beside him. Hermione sent the curtain closed with a swish of her wand.

The dust was settled to reveal the cloaked figure with one of its hands up in surrender. At the intruder's throat was Kanda's sword, Lavi hovered behind them. Then Lavi twisted the intruder's arm behind his back hard enough to lower him to the ground in pain. The redhead looked at Harry, and for a moment, Harry felt in control for the first few moments in the past couple of years, maybe even longer.

Then the intruder gasped out,

"Hold on! It's me, Remus!"

Kanda yanked the hood back to reveal Lupin's face, and Lavi let go as if he'd been holding a hot poker.

"Sorry about that," he grinned sheepishly, pulling the man up by his sore shoulder.

"No, that was good. I'm surprised, actually," Lupin replied slowly, rubbing his shoulder.

"Prove it," Harry interrupted, needing to be sure, waving his wand in a threatening motion, "Prove you're Remus Lupin."

"I'm a werewolf," the other replied confidently, as if he had expected the demand. "Sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder's Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you to perform a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag."

"Oh, all right," he lowered his wand, and then put it away, "I had to check, didn't I?"

"Speaking as your ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I quite agree you had to check. You shouldn't lower your defenses so quickly," Lupin spoke lastly to Ron, Hermione, Kanda, and Lavi, who sighed in annoyance.

"Serious? How lame," He muttered, "Now I have to be on guard against Akuma _and_ evil wizards in disguise?"

"Tch," Kanda rolled his eyes, sheathing the sword he had only lowered slightly, before brushing by the ex-teacher and moving to stand to the side.

"No signs of Severus, then?" Lupin asked.

"No. There are some Death Eaters outside, but no one has tried to enter here," Harry shook his head, motioning them into the kitchen.

"So I noticed. They can't know you're here though, or else there'd certainly be more of them. They're staking out any place that has a connection with you, Harry, and there's a lot to tell you, but I want to know what happened after you left the burrow."

In the kitchen, Hermione lit the grate with her wand. They sat, and it might have been cozy if not for the darkness that was so dark in the corners.

"I'd have been here sooner, but I needed to shake off the Death Eater trailing me," Remus explained, "So you came here straight after the wedding?"

"No," Harry said, "We only came here after we went to Tottenham Court Road and ran into a little trouble in a café."

"What? What _kind_ of trouble?"

"There were Death Eaters," Ron replied with a shadow of contempt, "We're alright though."

For a moment there was silence while Lupin soaked it in. Hermione shifted restlessly in her seat, her face twisted in guilt and worry. Just as the man went to speak, she burst,

"Greyback!" At his startled gaze, she reiterated, "Greyback was there too. He led them."

Lupin's shocked eyes turned to them, looking over them all with a critical eye, grim terror deep within. As if she had burst beyond repair, she continued after only a moment of hesitation,

"We're alright, Allen and Lavi and Kanda blocked most of the spells from the Death Eaters, but…"

"But what?" He barked, eyes narrowed.

"…But Kanda was bitten," it all came out in such a rush, it took even those who knew what she was talking about a moment to dissect the sentence, and once Kanda did, he glared, bristling, and when Lupin did, he spun around to stare.

His stare lasted several minutes, and Harry had to congratulate the swordsman for not flinching and meeting the gaze head on the whole time, defiantly standing tall like a warrior who'd gone against the rules and didn't regret it at all. Lupin slowly turned away, his hand covering his eyes.

"… I admit that I did not expect much of you," Lupin murmured, seemingly referring to the exorcists, "But that something like this…"

"Sir," Allen spoke for the first time, seeming hesitant but strong, "This disease – is it possible to be bitten and not contract it?"

"No. It's in the saliva, and once it enters your bloodstream, there's no hope for you."

"Well…" Lavi rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I dunno… I mean, Yuu's got this awesome healing factor… he can heal from various wounds in a third of the time for usual people. He's really weird, but I think that maybe there's a chance…"

"What do you know of magic?" the man hissed, "Of magical disease or medicine? It is incurable – no amount of quick healing can stop the process. Don't you get it? Because of your foolish, idiotic mission, your friend is doomed!"

"In case you haven't noticed," Kanda growled, "I am still here, and very much alive. Understand this – Whatever bit me, bit me, and it was to save your foolish, idiotic boy here. Why don't you save your breath, and instead of making a big deal out of it, be grateful and then forget about it?"

"Forget? You don't understand a thing!" Remus growled, jumping into a standing position in seconds, closely followed by Allen and Lavi, and then perhaps a little more slowly, Harry and Ron. "You will transform every full moon, you don't have a choice, and then you will become a mindless beast with nary a thought to your friends or anyone else – you'll kill them if you're not careful, and then what? You'll be like that for the rest of your life!"

"At the very least," The exorcist replied calmly, fingering his sword, "Then if they can't defend themselves from a 'mindless beast', then they deserve to die."

Harry was shocked at the words, but was more concerned with his friend's face, contorted with rage and grief.

"Here, Remus, calm down. Tell us how everyone's been doing?"

Remus didn't appear as though he'd play along, but then sat down in a huff and shook his head. It took a few moments, but he tentatively spoke again.

"Kingsley's appearance and subsequent transformation threw everyone into a panic, but mostly everyone got away safely because of it. Then when the… Akuma… were gone, the ministry showed up, and they interrogated everyone for hours as to your whereabouts. They searched the Burrow, top to bottom, and found the ghoul, but didn't want to get too close to it. At the same time, Death Eaters smashed their way into every Order-connected house in the country. There were no deaths, but they were very rough. They burned down Dedalus Diggle's house, and used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonk's family, who are alright."

"How horrible," Hermione whispered.

"The Death Eaters got through all those protective charms?"

"What you've got to realize is that the Death Eaters have the full might of the Ministry on their side now, Harry," Lupin sighed softly, rubbing his temples.

"Nobody said we'd have to fight a whole government," Lavi ruffled his hair with a frown.

"You're welcome to leave," Ron replied somewhat coldly, and received a jab in his side.

"Sorry, it's not nearly so easy to get rid of us."

"Here," Lupin interrupted, "This is how they're covering up. You would've found out sooner or later."

The newspaper handed to Harry created a bad feeling, but he opened it anyway. The front page held a big bold title, 'Wanted for questioning about the death of Albus Dumbledore,' just over a picture of himself. He set it aside because he wasn't surprised, and he already knew what the article would say anyway.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Lupin told him sincerely, ignoring Kanda's scoff in the background.

"So Death Eaters have taken over the Daily Prophet now?" Hermione questioned furiously. She received a nod, and she rubbed her eyes in frustration. Allen looked over her shoulder and politely asked if he could see the newspaper. She handed it over without a second thought.

"Surely people realize what's going on?"

"Why should they? It was all done smoothly and almost silently. The official version of Scrimgeour's murder is that he resigned. He's been replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperious curse."

Lavi whistled lowly.

"The world really is against you," he said with an amused and yet serious grin, "Wouldn't want to trade places with you."

"Gee, thanks," Harry replied sarcastically.

"There are still those willing to protect Harry," Lupin defended, "Less now, I suppose, now that the Ministry has confused the people with accusation of Dumbledore's murder, but still. It's not the whole world. _You_ are here, aren't you?"

"Not to be rude," Allen handed the paper to the redhead, who read it with surprising intensity, "But we were only sent here for the Innocence. I don't think the Vatican would have stepped in otherwise. And they're still reluctant – they have to know what's going on, and yet there's only three of us… and we're not the three of their most favorite people. Plus, no offense, but I heard from Komui that the Vatican doesn't like magic folk very much."

"Why?" Hermione asked, puzzled, "And are you in some kind of trouble with them?"

"The guys up top generally don't think very well of exorcists," Lavi shrugged, "I mean, everyone at our base does, and Komui's great, but everyone above them are pretty callous. I guess it's kind of like the whole thing between the rich and poor – they think we're below them, I guess."

"But Allen spoke as if it were you three in particular," she accused.

"The bean sprout has gotten himself in pretty deep trouble," Kanda told her with a brief smirk.

"And everyone knows you're not all that loyal to the Vatican!" Allen shot back.

"Neither are you," Kanda said with a faint shrug, "You don't care about the Order – you care about the people, and the Akuma. If the Vatican fell, it wouldn't matter, would it? As long as we can keep destroying Akuma, then it makes little difference."

Allen didn't reply. He frowned, almost thoughtfully, and Lavi broke in,

"Anyway, the Vatican doesn't like the magical people because… well, Duh! It's the Vatican, people!" At Ron and Harry's blank stare, he sighed dramatically and continued, "The Pope?" They gained looks of realization, "Yeah. Well, they hate magic and abnormal things. That's another reason they probably don't like us exorcists. Our Innocence is kinda like magic, I guess."

"… That makes sense… but why don't they like you, then? Allen and Kanda… well… But what about you?" Hermione tilted her head to the side.

"Me?" He pointed to himself and grinned, "They don't particularly dislike me, I don't think, but I had to come along because even if they don't like it, it's a really big mission, and I had to do my real job."

"And that would be?" Lupin leaned back in his chair, tapping the armrest.

"Trade secret," Lavi tried a wink, and failed, ignoring the suspicious glare he received.

"Anyway. Is there anything else, Remus?" Harry turned away, feeling it was best to get back on topic before he completely forgot and potentially missed something important.

Remus told them about how the Ministry was making school attendance to Hogwarts for all magical kids mandatory, and about how they were making Muggle-borns register. Apparently, they believed that if a Muggle-born couldn't prove they had a magical ancestor, then they were believed to have stolen their magic – and how they'd managed to do that, Harry didn't know. It made him sick, and he felt deeply for the children who would be leaving for Hogwarts, and would never see the true school.

Then, Lupin hesitated,

"I'll understand if you can't confirm this, Harry, but the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore left you a mission."

"He did," Harry answered, "Ron and Hermione are in on it and are coming with me… and so is Allen, Lavi, and Kanda."

The exorcists seemed surprised to be included, and perhaps that he'd accepted the fact without too much trouble. In all honesty, he was being forced to think logically, and logic told him it would be suicide to refuse.

"Can you confide in me what the mission is?"

"If Dumbledore didn't tell you, I don't think I can, Remus. I'm sorry."

"I thought you'd say that," Lupin looked visibly disappointed, and he felt guilty immediately, "But I might still be of use to you. You know me, Harry, and what I could do. I could help you. With protection," here, he glanced at the exorcists, who hardly looked like they could body guard anything, and yet he knew for a fact they could, "or anything else. You wouldn't need to tell me what you were doing."

Harry was tempted. Protection as an argument wasn't a good one – he had three extremely talented exorcists to help him there. But Lupin had knowledge; knowledge that even Hermione wouldn't have. He had experience. Most of all, though, Harry didn't want to leave him behind. He wanted to have the man along, for his company, for a reminder of what he was doing, what he was fighting for. He hesitated though, for two reasons. The first was that he couldn't think of any way to keep his mission a secret in the middle of it all; the second was the akuma. The odds were even, with three exorcists and three of them.

"But what about Tonks?" Hermione asked, looking puzzled.

"What about her?"

"Well, you're married!" She exclaimed with a frown, "How does she feel about that?"

"Tonks will be perfectly safe. She'll be at her parents' house."

Lupin's tone was almost cold as he spoke. Harry knew Tonks – she'd want to be on the battlefield with every other Order member, so why would she be at home?

"Is everything alright?" She questioned tentatively, "You know… with…?"

"Everything is fine, thank you," he told her pointedly. She blushed in embarrassment. Nevertheless, after a few moments of silence, he spoke, as if forcing himself, "Tonks is going to have a baby."

"How wonderful!" Hermione squealed.

"Congratulations," Harry added as Ron nodded enthusiastically. Harry thought he saw Lavi and Allen exchange a look; the kind where they knew something that he did not.

"So what do you say? Will you accept my offer?"

Harry hesitated again,

"Just to be clear: You want to leave Tonks at her parents' house and come away with us?"

"She'll be safe there, they'll look after her. I'm sure James would have wanted me to stick with you, Harry."

"I'm not. I'm pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren't sticking with your own kid, actually," he said flatly.

Lupin paled. It was if the temperature dropped. His friends looked around in alarm and worry.

"You don't understand," Lupin spoke at last, ignoring Kanda's second scoff.

"Explain."

"I made a grave mistake marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment, and I've regretted it ever since."

"I see. So you're going to dump her and the kid and come run off with us?"

Lupin jumped to his feet, his chair overturning, glaring for all he was worth. For the first time, Harry saw the wolf there, on the man's face. Kanda was immediately behind the werewolf, but Lupin didn't seem to notice.

"Whenever you have seen me, it was amongst the Order, or Hogwarts! You have no idea how the Wizarding world sees people like me! When they know what I am, they can barely talk to me! Her own parents are disgusted by our marriage! I've made her an outcast, and the child-"

When he grabbed at his own hair, Lavi stepped up, near Ron and Hermione, who seemed a little reassured by his presence, but still frightened. Allen stood back, face frowning but otherwise relaxed.

"My kind don't usually breed!" Lupin shouted, "It will be like me, I know it, and how can I forgive myself when I knew the risks and did it anyway? And even if, by some miracle, it is not like me, it will be a million times better off without a father to be ashamed of!"

"How could any child be ashamed of you, Remus?" Hermione cried, tears gathering.

"I don't know, Hermione, I'd be pretty ashamed," Harry replied, eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure why he was so angry, only that he was, and he was on his feet now too. Lupin's pale face belied his shock – he appeared as if somebody had hit him.

"My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you think he'd tell you to abandon your kid and go adventuring with us?"

"How dare you?" Remus shook, "This is not about – about personal glory – how could you – how dare you suggest such a thing?"

"Really? You know, I never would have guessed. The man who taught me to fight Dementors – a coward."

Harry hadn't known the man could draw his wand so fast, as it was out before he could even reach for his own. He saw a flurry of black, and then a loud bang sounded before he was thrown back into a pair of solid arms. He knew instinctively that it was Allen. The exorcist was the only one behind him a few minutes ago. He heard struggling, and then in his ear,

"It may be none of my business, but I think you went too far," Allen whispered only for him to hear.

"You're right, it's not any of your business," Harry snapped as he was gently pushed back onto his feet. He saw, then, that Kanda, who held the older and taller man with his arms, was restraining Remus.

"Let him go!" Hermione cried, "Remus, please!"

Kanda let Lupin go only when he felt the other wouldn't go on a rage, and then the wizard spun around, pushing his face into Kanda's, and hissed,

"Just see what you've gotten yourself into. This will be you someday – and you'll regret it then, I bet."

"Unlikely," Kanda replied, ignoring the man when Lupin swept from the room.

"Harry! How could you?" Hermione wailed when the front door slammed shut.

"It was easy," Harry glared slightly.

"You shouldn't have said that stuff to Lupin," Ron told him.

"He had it coming. Parents should never leave their kids alone unless – unless they've got no choice."

He could still remember the deaths of everyone who had died around him, and it hurt to think about it. He almost lost himself in the thoughts and images when Allen spoke once more.

"I agree," Hermione gave an evil glare that he ignored, "They shouldn't. I lost my father, Mana, and I know how you feel. Lupin was irresponsible and it's a cruel thought."

Harry lifted his head and turned to look. He was unreasonably shocked. After a moment, he realized it was because although he had been with the exorcists for over a week and a half, he had never really thought about their lives – if he even realized they had one. He never thought much about their personal lives at all, other than when Allen had consoled him, and admitted he'd lost his master. He had never even thought they had families. He wondered at the callousness of the act.

"But, you've also got to think about how he feels, too. There are always at least two sides to a story. Nothing is ever as it seems to be at first. And nothing is ever easy either. I don't know Lupin nearly as well as you do, so I can't tell you, but I think you know."

He did, but he didn't really want to admit it. He frowned, but the rage had cooled.

"I know I shouldn't have called him a coward," he looked briefly at Hermione when he said it, then at Allen, as a silent apology. The boy smiled.

"No, you shouldn't have," Ron nodded.

"But he's acting like one."

"All the same…" Hermione whispered, glancing at Allen, and Harry wondered if she came to the same realizations he did about the exorcists.

"Perhaps we should take a breather and just relax for a little while?" Lavi suggested, looking at Harry in particular. Harry didn't feel like he'd relax any time soon, but nodded anyway.

Lavi announced he was going to take a shower, and Kanda walked from the room without a word. Allen shrugged, used to the display, and said he was going to explore, as he'd taken to doing lately.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione went back to the sitting room in silence. When they reached it, they sat.

"I think we all need a break, just for a little while," Hermione admitted, smoothing her hair.

"And where would we get one of those?" Harry wondered, but without malice. They were both surprised when no third comment was made, and found Ron staring into space.

"Something wrong, Ron?"

"What? Oh. Just thinking," Ron blinked, startled from his reverie. At the reproachful stares he received, he rolled his eyes, "I'm serious. I was just thinking about the exorcists, that's all."

"And?" Hermione leaned forward, surprisingly interested.

"I don't really know. They're so secretive. It's like they tell us what we need to know about the Akuma, but somehow manage to keep a lot of things secret."

"I can't complain too much about that, Ron," Harry told him with the smallest of smiles.

"Well, yeah, but they're suspicious. This Order of theirs is too, and just the way they act. Like, Lavi's 'real job'? And that bloke Kanda said that Allen got himself into a lot of trouble. But by doing what? Then they spoke like they didn't care about their Order thing, even admitted it, as long as they could fight Akuma, and how weird is that? How could you not care about anything else as long as you can fight those monsters? I don't understand."

"I don't think we're meant to," Hermione mumbled, "But I know what you mean. I don't get them either. I imagine it's something only an exorcist could understand."

"How did they get so strong?" Ron continued, "It's not normal. They move like ghosts, and they're so fast! Did you see how fast Kanda had Lupin pinned?"

"Not fast enough," Harry muttered, staring at the ground ruefully.

"And what happened to them? What is 'Innocence' really? What's the Brown Order like?"

"It's the 'Black Order', Ron," the witch corrected, "And listing every single question we have isn't getting us answers quicker. We just have to be careful, that's all, right Harry?"

When he didn't immediately reply, she looked at him,

"Right?"

"Yeah. Right."

She frowned at him doubtfully when he heard a shout from the kitchen.

"Hey Harry! The elf is back! And-" The sound of scuffling came, and what sounded like a hiss of pain, "-and he brought company!"

They were on their feet instantly, running for Allen's voice. Harry silently hoped they would be one step closer to his goal by the time tomorrow came.

* * *

A/N: There you go. It's like a page and a half longer and everything. I'd say it's because 10 is a milestone, except I hadn't planned to have it so long (not that I plan much at all). But it practically wrote itself, so…

And I had a bit of a realization of my own. The Harry Potter 7th book is 759 pages long, and has 36 chapters and an epilogue. I usually write about 6 pages a chapter… and it seems like this is going to be a long story. I could certainly be wrong, but with the way I write, and everything else… huh. So. Question.

How many of you like long stories?

Anyways, reviews are extremely welcome (and encouraged) as well as help, critiques, and ideas!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Ugh. Finals. School is so overrated. So this comes out a little early this week because I won't be able to get to a computer tomorrow. Yay. This is another filler, and yet not. Filler, because it's kinda passing time, but a few important things _do_ happen, even if they don't seem that way.

Also, there's a line in here, which is 'Das weiss ich nicht'. It's German, I copied it from the book. But! The word weiss is actually spelled differently: the two s were actually another symbol that I don't think I can make on my computer. But I have a German friend who has that very symbol in her last name, and she told me once it's for… like, a double s, or long s, or something. Anyways, she often replaces it with two s, so I think it's okay. Anybody out there who is German, let me know if it's wrong.

**Important note at the bottom.**

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. (Also, fixed Kreacher! Dunno how I missed that glaringly obvious House-elf talk XD)

__--*--__

Harry grunted as he hit the floor, hard. The wood was most unforgiving, and he knew he'd be feeling the consequences for a while. He took a moment to collect himself again, rolling over onto his back to wheeze at the ceiling.

"That was marginally better, but still pathetic," He heard Kanda say with a hint of annoyance. He himself felt similarly. This whole thing wasn't even his idea, but it had seemed somewhat of a good one at the time. Perhaps it was because of the one teaching him – the swordsman made no attempt to hide his opinions, and generally, they weren't good ones.

"You can't really… expect… me to...," Harry sucked in a large amount of air to help his sore lungs, "You can't expect me to actually _win_."

"I never once expected you to – that would have been something akin to suicide," Kanda snorted, maybe even in amusement, "But I had hoped you would do just a little better than this."

Harry sat up, rubbing his bruised shoulders, and rolled his eyes.

"You've been doing this how long? Besides, the wizarding world looks down on physical violence, so it's not like I've ever done this before."

He thought briefly of his cousin and all the times he had been hit and whatnot; his reflexes were good, or so he had always thought. The most he'd gained from duels and from his cousin that could be considered helpful here would indeed be his quick reflexes, and while they were praised when he played Quidditch, they just didn't make the cut. In all other aspects, he was pretty much helpless.

"I gathered as much," Kanda's eye's darkened as he no doubt recalled Hermione's outburst when the original idea for this whole session was brought up. He looked at the wizard with a frown, "Stand up. Do it again."

Harry groaned and wondered what the other would say if he tried to refuse or back out. As tempting as it was, he didn't think it was a good idea. He valued his health, thank you very much.

"How many more times are we going to do this?"

"Until you get it right."

He sighed and muttered under his breath as he stood, "Which would be never."

"You had better hope not," Kanda gave him a glare, shifting from leg to leg.

Harry stood straight, picking up his wand and holding it as if he were about to fire a spell; Kanda stood opposite of him, just staring, stance unconcerned. The exorcist didn't move, continuing to stare as seconds and then minutes passed by. The wizard quickly grew impatient, staring at the others neck so he wouldn't have to face the angry eyes instead, and shifted restlessly. Just as he contemplated moving first, tired of the silence and the lack of action, the other suddenly darted right at him.

He received no warning, as usual. Kanda moved slower than he would if the situation were real, ducking under the first spell and reaching for the wand. It was jerked back, but his arms were long, and he grasped a wrist skinnier than his own, tugging the other off balance. Harry fell to the ground on his chest and felt the crushing weight of the other as the Japanese pulled his arm up into a painful angle, forcing him to let go of his wand. For a moment, only his surprised breathing could be heard, but the weight disappeared and a moment later he heard,

"At least you managed to fire something off this time," Kanda hummed, crossing his arms.

Harry stood slowly, silently hoping he wouldn't have to go again for who-knows-how-many-times. He coughed slightly, trying to ease the discomfort in his chest. When he looked up, he found the others expression surprising; It was curious and faintly reproachful. Then the expression was gone, replaced by the usual blank-but-slightly-annoyed stare instead.

From the hall he heard the sound of the spell activating, followed by Hermione's voice. Immediately, his spirit lifted. He glanced briefly to his current 'teacher', and Kanda gave a jerk of his head. He was slightly surprised for some reason he couldn't fathom, but went for the door. He bypassed the furniture that they had pressed up against the walls as well as they could, the wood groaning under his weight, and spotted his two friends and Allen.

"Hey, Harry, you alright?" Ron asked with a concerned frown, "You look… I dunno, winded?"

"I'll be fine in a minute," Harry replied, his voice still a little strained, "How did things go?"

"As well you can expect, I suppose."

"We didn't gather much new information, but we did confirm a few things," Hermione explained as they moved as one into the sitting room, "And did you notice how many Death Eaters have been around lately? They're all hanging out in the square, but they can't know we're here…"

Kanda appeared in the doorway and barely shared a look with Allen before walking off again. Harry blinked, but then glanced at the younger boy with a tilt to his head.

"I noticed. They would have sent in Snape if they knew though, so we should be safe for now."

"Perhaps so," Allen spoke with a curious tone, "Where's Lavi?"

"Yeah, where is he?" Ron wondered. Hermione glanced around the room as if doing so would reveal the last exorcist, but it did not.

"Last I talked to him, which was a couple hours ago, he said he wanted to make a few foreign foods to show us. Kreacher isn't too happy with him taking over the kitchen, but I think Lavi said he'd teach him to make it too."

"I didn't know Lavi could cook," Hermione mused with a smile. It didn't come as a surprise to the three that they hadn't known, but it was surprising when Allen added,

"I didn't know he could cook either. I wonder what he's making?"

"When he said foreign, he didn't mean, like, sushi or something, did he?" Ron asked, his face turning an interesting shade of pale green.

"I don't know, Ron, why?"

"Because I don't like raw fish. It's kind of disgusting, isn't it?" He looked to the others for reassurance.

"Have you even had sushi before, Ronald?" Hermione frowned slightly in a disapproving way, her eyebrows raising in question.

"Well, no… But it's raw! It can't be good, I mean, come on!"

"I like sushi," Allen piped up with a grin, "There's nothing wrong with it, I don't think. You should try it, you might like it."

"No way. Raw fish?" Ron made a face, showing just how gross he though the idea was.

Then with a pop, Kreacher appeared, dressed in a white towel, his ear hair clean and fluffy, and Regulus's locket bouncing on his thin chest. His sudden appearance made Allen jump, startled. It was the usual reaction to such a sudden appearance, for the exorcists, and Harry didn't think any of them would ever get used to it enough not to be put on guard immediately.

"Dinner is ready, Master Harry," The house elf spoke, though it seemed almost with vaguely concealed annoyance.

"Did Lavi give you any trouble?" Harry hid a grin.

As if that was exactly what the creature needed to hear, he burst out, "He refuses to leave the kitchen! He has all but forced Kreacher to leave, and he shouldn't, he's taking over Kreacher's-"

"It was just this once, don't get your… er… towel in a bunch," Lavi exclaimed as he appeared at the doorway. Allen's nose lifted as the scent of food drifted into the room,

"I didn't know you could cook, Lavi," He accused, standing and heading for the kitchen.

"I haven't actually cooked before," The red head replied, holding up his slightly burnt hands, "Other than normal things, you know, when I couldn't get decent food on a mission. But I remember a few recipes, and I wanted to try one out."

Hermione gave him a disbelieving look; She had doubted his so-called photographic memory ever since she had heard of it, even though she did know such a thing existed. She didn't comment for once, instead she walked over to him and took his hands in hers, turning them over a few times to examine his hands. His eyebrows shot up, and he turned his head toward Allen, wagging said eyebrows with a slight grin. Ron's face turned an unpleasant color.

"You must have been clumsy," She said with a frown, oblivious, "It's pretty obvious you're not all that experienced with cooking."

She pulled out her wand and murmured a spell. Moments later, his minor burns healed over. Allen paused in the doorway, slowly back-tracking to stare intently at the unblemished skin. Lavi let out a low whistle as he rubbed his hands together,

"Skins a little tight, but what I wouldn't give to be able to do that. I've lost count of how many times I've burnt myself."

Hermione looked puzzled as she wondered how he had such a history of burning himself if not from cooking. She briefly pictured an akuma exploding and wondered if perhaps that was the main cause, though he had not seemed to have any trouble with such a thing so far.

"Like in the Ark," He continued, sharing a secret smile with Allen's bemused one, "I thought I was going to burn alive. I was feeling it for weeks afterward."

"The Ark?" Harry questioned in the background. Kreacher cleared out his throat pointedly, and they got the message; They headed as a group to the kitchen.

"Yeah, it's really amazing," Lavi threw his hands in the air, "And huge. Like seriously. It's… this… well… what is it exactly, Allen?"

"That's a good question. Nobody really knows for sure. It's like… a town that exists in a different dimension?"

Hermione opened her mouth to comment, wearing the expression she usually did when she was about to challenge a theory or idea she didn't agree with, but Lavi cut her off.

"Anyway, it's not too important. Point is, there was this huge fight there," They entered the kitchen and sat, ignoring Kanda who had already been seated at the table, "It was between me, Allen, Yuu, our two friends Lenalee and Krory, and a few Noah's."

Ron's mouth moved as he tried to sound out the last name, it's foreignness making it extremely difficult to do so.

"You never did finish your story about Noah's. How many are there?" Hermione didn't even glance at the table, her interest in the subject robbing all her attention as was usual.

"There's thirteen," Allen replied as he sat, "But we haven't met them all. There were three… four? There at the time."

"Which is it, three or four?" Ron asked as he stared at the food set out before him. He definitely didn't recognize it, but it didn't appear to be raw fish either.

"It's complicated. One of them…was two people, but they could merge and become one… and well, I just count them as one anyway."

"And how many left there alive?" Hermione asked solemnly, startling her friends the most with her sudden and unexpected question.

Slowly, Allen pulled apart the pair of chopsticks by his plate, "Well, all the exorcists did, just barely. And the other one who was with us, who ended up as an exorcists after we got out of there. The one who could merge together… we assumed he died, as he was nowhere to be found, and certainly hadn't been able to leave. Krory was in extremely bad shape afterward though. And Kanda beat his opponent too, who is also assumed dead. Tyki lived, and so did Road, apparently."

"Tyki is the one you saw before?"

"That's the one," Lavi shrugged and pulled apart his own chopsticks.

Silence fell as Harry and his friends absorbed this. Somehow, they had a hard time picturing what the fight would have been like, what the opponent's would have been like. Perhaps part of it, Harry thought, was that it was very hard to imagine anyone who could possibly match up to the exorcists other-worldliness.

The air was thick, and Ron finally broke it in curiosity, "So, how do you use chopsticks? And what is this stuff anyway?"

"It's called Soba," Lavi leaned across the table to separate the others pair, "It's Kanda's favorite. It was the first thing I thought of, and Allen is so easy to please, I didn't think it would matter. It's Japanese, by the way," Ron eyed his plate suspiciously, "I learned the recipe once on a mission I went with Yuu on – This old lady from the inn we stayed at showed me how to make it."

"And there's no raw fish?" Ron picked up the chopsticks and broke them apart.

"No raw fish," Lavi confirmed with an amused smile, "At least, not in this kind."

Harry found that once he got a hold on how to work the chopsticks – Allen showed him how – he liked it quite a bit. It was a new taste and it was good. Hermione already knew what to do, which didn't really surprise anybody, and she seemed to like it enough. Ron had quite a bit more trouble. Lavi tried to show him what to do, but every time the wizard tried to pick anything up, the sticks would go crooked and whatever he held would fall.

"So, about the Plan," Hermione spoke.

"What about it?" Harry moved the noodles around a little before attempting to snare some. It took him two tries to get a decent amount, and when he tried to scoop the noodles onto the chopsticks, Lavi gave him a discreet shake of the head. He wasn't sure what, exactly, was wrong with that method, but he stopped trying it all the same.

"What do you mean, what about it?" She glared at him, "We're suppose to sneak into the Ministry and steal the locket! What is there not to worry about?!"

About the only thing they had gotten out of Mundungus was that he'd given the locket away; from the description, it was no doubt given to Umbridge. The thought made the scars on the back of Harry's hand sting. So they had started to gather information, hanging out outside of the Ministry almost everyday. The next piece of information that they had gotten, however, was about Snape's new appointment as the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The very thought made his stomach roll.

"I don't see why you have to make it so complicated," Lavi grinned, waving his utensils around, "I mean, we could always go in, and you guys could, I don't know, stay here."

"Not going to happen," Harry replied instantly. This he was very firm about; If anybody was going, it would be him, and the others should be the ones to hang back. Though, he did notice the subtle wall still erected between them – every time one of the exorcists mentioned 'we' it was never referring to all six of them, but instead just the exorcists. 'You' was always referring to Harry and his friends, and he had noticed that it was a distinction everyone seemed to make. It almost seemed to glaringly point out the very large differences between the two groups, and Harry felt sure that Hermione had not only noticed as well, but probably had been the first to notice.

"Besides, you would get lost, and what would you do if something required magic? It's a ridiculous notion," Hermione huffed, "What did you plan on doing? A full on frontal attack?"

A large crooked grin gave her all that she needed to know, and she barely rested throwing the salt shaker at his head. Seeing her dark look, he laughed,

"Just kidding 'Mione, I wouldn't do that! At least, not in this situation. I'm smarter than I look, you know."

She blinked, startled. Ron's head snapped up, his sarcastic response lost as he gaped and his mouth worked furiously though no sound emerged. Harry half choked on his food – Kreacher was immediately there asking if he needed help, but he waved the elf away.

"Something I said?" Lavi wondered, looking to Allen in confusion, and then he frowned, "Wait… Oh haha – if that was a crack at my handsome looks, I'll have you know – "

"No no!" Hermione shook her wildly, hair flying about, "I was just surprised."

"At what?"

"You called her 'Mione," Ron answered before she could, but when he did it sounded more like an accusation.

"…And?" Lavi tilted his head in confusion and looked around the table, "Are nicknames unusual? I wouldn't have thought so, since Allen never had much of a problem with them…"

"Not unusual," Harry gave a slight smile, "Just… well, nothing really. Forget about it."

He wasn't sure how to explain their surprise without sounding… presumptuous. He was use to calling her that, and so was Ron – the nickname wasn't anything special, but it was kind of… personal? No, that wasn't right. It just seemed a little forward, he supposed. It seemed sometimes that the 'subtle wall' was not all encompassing.

Lavi went to argue, but Hermione beat him, "'Since Allen'? Are you British, Allen?"

"Oh, yes," Allen paused in his voluminous eating to swallow, surprised, "I suppose you can't really tell. And for the record, Lavi, I have always had a problem with your nicknames."

"No, it's not especially obvious. I mean, your hair… and voice…" Lavi pouted as Hermione once again spoke before him.

"Do you dye your hair?" Ron broke in as he once more went at his food with his chopsticks, "I hear that it's a popular thing with the Muggles."

"My accent disappeared a long time ago," Allen glanced at her, making the Weasly frown, thinking he'd been ignored, "My master took me to lot's of places. Before I joined the Black Order, we'd been in Africa. And no, I don't dye my hair."

"Then is it natural?"

"Nope."

"Then why is it white?"

Allen shifted slightly; his face wasn't uncomfortable, but it was fairly closed off, "It's from a curse placed on me a long time ago – I received this scar, this eye, at the same time."

Harry's eyebrows rose. A curse? How had the other been cursed if he'd never been around magic before? He'd also never heard of a spell that could effect someone's eye like that, though it was probably possible, but not one that also changed the persons hair color. He made a mental note to bring it up to Hermione later.

The talk after that was rather hollow; It was noise to fill in the silence, nothing more. Afterward, when Ron had given up on the chopsticks and used a fork instead, Kreacher began to clean up the plates. Harry learned something else then: The exorcists liked to do things themselves. Allen and Kanda picked up after themselves, ignoring Kreacher, and Lavi followed their lead. He thought it might also mean that, for the first two in particular, they probably did not like to rely on others. It certainly fit with his mental image of them.

Hermione was quick to head to her room, giving a hasty excuse as she went. Ron was curious, but he too recognized the slightly crazed look that she wore whenever she was about to go diving into the library for information. Instead, he moved to another table and began scribbling things down. When asked, he said it was just small details he'd noticed today on their stake out of the Ministry. As much as Harry knew that he needed to be well informed, he couldn't bring himself to sit down and go over everything they'd gathered; After all the times they'd gone, they'd gathered a sketchy pile of maps and information.

When he felt the sudden pain in his scar, he stood rather abruptly from his seat. Ron gave him a surprised stare.

"Bathroom," Harry tried to pass it off with a careless shrug, and his friend seemed to take his actions for restlessness. He left the room, and as soon as he was out of the others eyesight, quickened his pace. He passed by a startled Allen, who had been going the opposite way. He had looked a little pained and had turned as if to say something to Harry, but he urgently continued on his way.

Harry would have made it to the bathroom, he was sure, if the younger exorcist had not grabbed his arm, halting his progress. At the touch, he felt the pain suddenly spike, and then a dizzying sensation of falling before the vision overtook him.

Once more, he played the role of Voldemort. He walked amongst houses that reminded him privately of gingerbread houses, and approached one. As he knocked, he felt excitement growing, and then the door opened to a woman whose face fell upon recognizing her visitor.

"Gregorovitch?" The voice was not his own, but Voldemort's instead.

The woman shook her head, and quickly shut the door. He let her, feeling annoyed and almost morbidly amused. From his side, he heard somebody's throat cleared.

"Allow me," Harry inwardly wasn't sure what to make of this person. As Voldemort's head turned, Harry found a handsome man with gray skin staring back at him. And the man did not grovel, did not use petty compliments, did not even appear to acknowledge that the wizard before him was superior. He did not wear Death Eater robes, or 'robes' at all, for he wore a muggle suit that puzzled Harry. He did not know what the Dark Lord would tolerate the suit, let alone the carefree and superior attitude the other had. Both things did seem to truly anger the Dark Lord, but his face didn't so much a twitch to reveal it. Instead, he motioned towards the door with a cold smile.

The man appeared for all the world to walk right through the door, as if it were but an illusion. Moments later, the front door swung open to reveal the man leading the frightened woman back to the front door. When she caught sight of the Lord again, she began to struggle violently, but every hit that wound have landed on the unknown man passed right through. He appeared to be a hologram, the muggle invention that Harry had seen in sci-fi movies several times before.

"I want Gregorovitch," Voldemort spoke in a cruel, high voice.

"Er wohnt hier nicht mehr!" She cried, "He no live here! He no live here! I know him not!"

She was held firmly in place by long, grey fingers, which tightened slightly at her denial.

"Where is he?"

"Das weiss ich nicht! He move! I know not, I know not!"

Harry watched as the mans hand moved right through her chest, and he felt himself disgustedly fascinated, and he couldn't tell whose emotions they were. The man whispered something in her ear, and she paled to a nearly impossible shade of ivory. Then his hand disappeared inside her chest completely, and suddenly she started to convulse.

"Tyki," Voldemort hissed softly. The woman fell to the floor, her eyes wide open in terror, never to blink again. The man held a human heart in his hands, her heart. Two children ran into the hall, skidding to a stop when they saw their prone mother. Before they could scream, Voldemort had drawn his wand, the spell flowing into the air like water, green light flashing –

"Harry! _Harry_!"

He opened his eyes to see the ceiling. For a moment, he only listened to his own breathing, and then he finally looked to the concerned faces of his friends. He knew he'd cried out, knew it as sure as the fact that he'd just seen another vision. Allen was sitting up against the wall, his hands on his head, and his face in his knees. His back rose and fell erratically, his breathing harsh and uneven. Harry thought he could see a faint tremble to the others hands.

"Hey, Allen, you okay?" Lavi knelt by his partner, laying a hand on the shoulder smaller than his own. His frown deepened when he didn't get an immediate response, but then the white head jerked out a nod. Allen's face rose to show an expression somehow mixed with apprehension, exhaustion, and unease.

"What happened?" Harry asked tiredly, more because he wanted to know what happened to the other than to him. He, after all, knew what had just happened to himself, but he didn't know what had caused the other to look so horrible, or so drained.

"You had another vision, didn't you?!" Hermione accused angrily, "Dumbledore didn't want you to keep doing this Harry! He wanted you to learn Occlumency! It's dangerous, he thought so too, and it doesn't help, not at all!"

"It means I know what he's doing," He sighed softly.

"So you're not even going to _try_ to shut him out?"

Harry wouldn't normally do so, but he ignored her. He was tired, his head hurt, he'd just witnessed yet another murder, and something was wrong with Allen. He moved closer to where the other three were. Even Kanda hovered nearby, eyes locked on Allen, expression unreadable.

"Alright?" He asked tiredly, still ignoring Hermione even as she squawked at him angrily.

"I believe so," Allen gave a wane smile, "Or I will be, at least."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you would tell me."

He blinked. Slowly, he re-evaluated the other. The only thing that had happened to Harry was a vision. He didn't have a clue what might have happened to Allen – it seemed impossible that it could be connected to said vision, since he himself was the only one with a connection to Voldemort's mind.

"I didn't _see _anything, other than blurs," Allen stressed, "Just, mostly I _felt_ things. Sometimes I thought I heard something, not that I could make it out well enough. It was like I was experiencing somebody else's emotions, I think, because I'm sure they weren't mine…. What happened to you?"

"I… had a vision," Harry hesitated, glancing at the redhead next to him when spoken to. His connection was his own, wasn't it? Why would the other, seemingly, be effected by his mind being pulled into the Dark Lord's? Something like that should be impossible, right?

"Like, messiah vision, or artistic vision?" Lavi frowned, touching his chin thoughtfully.

"Sometimes I have visions… of Voldemort. I… _am _Voldemort then. I feel his feelings, see what he sees…"

"Some kind of special skill then?"

"No… well, yes, I guess. But only I can do it. It's… complicated," He didn't really think it was complicated, but he didn't feel that he could explain it in it's entirety at the moment, not effectively. His mind was a jumbled mess still, and it was hard to think in a straight line. He wasn't even sure he could _walk_ in a straight line yet.

"Perhaps you should tell it to us anyway… in the sitting room, for example?"

Harry then saw his first glimpse of an exorcist in Lavi – it was a serious demand, not a question. He hesitated again, but then he nodded. He only agreed because he had no valid reason not to. He looked at Allen in concern, but mostly baffled. How could the other have possibly seen or felt anything? He silently wished, not for the first time, that Dumbledore was still there.

He wordlessly stood. He wavered a little, but thankfully it was not as hard to gather his barrings as he'd thought it'd be. Allen followed, waving off Lavi's concern. Harry wondered to himself why he felt as if this was, in fact, a big event. Almost as if this changed something. But the world kept turning even though it felt as if it had stopped.

__--*--__

A/N: I just wanted to say that I had a few things, such as with consistency, pointed out to me (things I didn't do well.) I somewhat agree, but it's almost impossible for me to catch these things myself. So if there's something you notice is wrong, or doesn't add up, or just doesn't seem right, please tell me. I'll either explain why it is that way, or I will try to fix it.

Anyways, I appreciate the feedback nonetheless.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Huzzah! School's Out! (I'm going to enjoy summer _so _much!)

But _because_ school is out, I can't get to a computer more than the times I update – so responses won't come until the last minute. Another early (another?) chapter, and I hope you enjoy! (Also, this event, in case you want to know and haven't read the book, doesn't actually happen, at all.)

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Harry had trouble sleeping that night. It was neither a surprise nor welcome, and he kept going over the discussion he'd had with the exorcists again and again, even after he'd picked everything apart and he felt there was nothing left to gain from it. There was hardly anything to pick apart in the first place, really.

He had told them about what had happened while he was a baby, where he'd gotten his 'Boy-Who-Lived' moniker. They hadn't shown much surprise or anything, merely took everything he said as fact. In fact, it was he himself who had gotten a surprise: Lavi, seeing the depressed atmosphere, had tried to do what he did very well – cheer everyone up. He had revealed that Harry and Allen were more similar than they'd first realized, for Allen too had a prophecy hanging over his head. This intrigued Harry, made him curious. His first thought was that the other had to be foretold to 'save the world' or something. At first, Lavi wouldn't tell them what it was, but with prompting, spilled it.

Harry never imagined a boy like Allen could have something like a title of 'Destroyer of Time'. It did not sound like a particularly happy ending, for anyone. The thought that he was a destroyer of anything didn't even seem to fit the boy's personality.

He finally fell asleep thinking this, and dreamed of a veil of darkness.

Time seemed slow to pass, and he woke a couple times, only to roll over into a new spot and drift off again. It was always the pleasant kind of exhaustion that he woke up to, lazy and comfortable, so it was always easy to slip off again. He hardly was aware of where he was, or who he was with.

He wasn't sure how many times it was that he awoke, but he was sure that he'd be on his second hand if he counted with his fingers when he finally opened his eyes. It was still dark, but through the window the sky seemed a little more red than normal – dawn probably wasn't too far away. He rolled onto his back, prepared to sleep some more, and was aware of hearing something clicking. In his drowsy state, he tried ignoring it, but it grew insistent.

Something extremely hard slammed into his head, and he shot up in alarm and pain.

His golem was chattering at him angrily, bobbing around in the air around his head. It's green eye was glowing, and he recognized the signs that he'd seen in the café weeks ago. He didn't know what Allen, or Lavi, or whoever it was, could want so early, but he figured that it wasn't something too big or else one of them would fetch him. He reached for his glasses as he muttered a tired,

"Connect."

Three clicks passed before he heard the soft voice of Allen whispering through his golem,

"_Harry_?"

"Yes? What's wrong?" He resisted sounding annoyed; Allen's whispering was slightly unnerving.

"_Listen to me. I think this place is about to be compromised_."

"What?!" Harry hissed softly, throwing off his sheets and ignoring the chilly wave of air, which served to chase away the last remnants of sleep in an instant. He glanced about in near panic, but he found that Ron was exactly where he was suppose to be. He worried for Hermione, who slept in a separate room.

"_There are a bunch of black-hooded figures in the square outside, and they've been gathering for roughly ten minutes. Gather your emergency things, just in case, and wake Ron_."

Harry was already hopping into some pants as fast as he could. He went too quickly and slipped, his head hitting the mattress while his back came into contact with the wooden frame.

"_Harry_?" Allen sounded alarm and concerned, his voice just an octave louder.

"Alright, I'm alright," Harry stood, buttoning the jeans, "Hermione?"

"_Lavi left for her just a few minutes ago. He'll stop by the room within a few minutes, don't leave until he does, please_."

Ron lightly snored, still slept even through the commotion of Harry falling. He waved off all attempts to wake him, curling up tighter in a ball, becoming a knot of body and blankets. Harry finally had enough and gave a harsh push. Ron, who had just moved to roll away, disappeared over the edge.

"What in the bloody hell?!" The Weasly's head popped up, tired and angry, "Are you barmy?"

"Listen Ron," He straightened in alarm at the sound of his friends apprehension, "Allen just contacted me – we need to get ready, we might need to leave."

"_Now_?!" His eyes narrowed, "This better be nothing less than Death Eaters, and not some stupid paranoia of theirs."

"From what I was told, Ron, it _is_ Death Eaters," Harry moved away, going for the magical bag that Hagrid had given him. He tied it around his neck, mentally going over everything that could possibly go wrong. It wasn't hard to lose track off all the things he conjured up.

"Blimey," Ron was immediately changing, slipping not once, but twice. Just as he started to pull his pants up a second time, the door burst open and slammed into the wall behind it.

Harry swung around, pulling out his wand with a speed he hardly knew that he was capable of, focusing all his senses on the intruder, his lips already moving – and Hermione shrieked, falling back into the hall covering her blushing face.

"Clothes! Put some clothes on!" She cried, disappearing back around the corner. Lavi ducked his head in, surprised. Then he snickered.

"Talk about getting caught with your pants down."

"What does it look like I was trying to do?" Ron muttered in embarrassment, blushing, and then louder, "Some people should know when to knock!"

"I'm sorry if I'm currently out of it because _we're about to be attacked_ in the _middle_ of the _night_, Ron," She exclaimed from out of sight, "And god forbid I be _worried_ about you!"

His face darkening, he reached for his shirt and muttered,

"Still. If it had been the other way _around_…"

"I'm afraid manners aren't exactly on the forefront of my mind," Hermione snapped as she waltzed back into the room, her eyes determinedly avoiding everyone else. Her face remained pink as she continued around, examining the room for anything else other than the clothes she scooped up and dropped into her hand bag. Lavi watched in mild interest.

Kanda appeared in the doorway then, hand on his sword.

"If there isn't something trying to take your life, I'd advise not screaming again," He looked at Hermione pointedly, his fingers tapping on his sheath impatiently.

"Hmm? Was that concern I just heard?" Lavi tisked softly, "Be careful, Yuu, your human is showing."

The only female paused, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

"We don't have all day, or all night for that matter," The swordsman snapped, determinedly ignoring the other exorcist, "Get downstairs."

Harry led the way behind Lavi once he'd grabbed his cloak, who followed Kanda. He was jittery and anxious – how were they found? There had been more Death Eaters in the square than usual lately, and he hoped that nothing was truly happening; But then, even one more Death Eater than usual was cause for worry.

Hermione was loud and clumsy in her nervousness. She almost tripped on the stairs once, and she was so embarrassed by the frown sent to her by not only Kanda, but even Lavi, that she concentrated extra hard on remaining silent and careful. Ron seemed vaguely amused, and wore a wane smile. It disappeared the moment the girl accidentally stepped on his foot.

Allen waited for them in the sitting room, kneeling by the windows. He didn't look away from the glass for even a moment; he waved them closer and spoke in a low voice. Harry figured that it was due more to habit than necessity, since nobody outside could possibly hear them.

"They've been rallying for a bit now and I can count eight level one's. I'm not sure quite what they're planning, but it can't possibly be good."

Everybody else looked as well, and Hermione was the first to point out what the other two wizards noticed, "Snape isn't there."

"Is there something important about that?" Lavi asked, pulling his bandana from his pocket and slipping it around his neck before pushing up – his hair went into such an anti-gravity sideways spike, Harry was amazed.

"Snape is a secret-keeper," Ron sat down with a thoughtful look, "So nobody should be able to get in this place unless he shows this place to them. He can't do that if he's not there. Here. Whatever."

"Right, secret-keeper," Lavi nodded sagely, "I'll pretend to understand what you're talking about."

Hermione started to prepare a speech of the fundamentals, but Allen cut her off with a sharp shushing motion.

"An akuma is approaching," he whispered. The whispering seemed to add to the tenseness, create a dangerous aura that hovered in the air. They all watched the akuma – a man in his late sixties that appeared to equate to a zombie – approach them. He appeared to be a ministry worker, if his robes were to be trusted, and there were a few others out there with similar robes. It did not stop, going further and further until they had to crowd to the other side of the window in order to see him. It stepped up to the front door and Ron began to curse, Hermione shook heavily,

"It went right through the spells, that should be impossible, how in the world-" She began to mutter in a quietly panicked sort of way. Her frizzy hair that hung everywhere added to her slightly demented image.

"Akuma have already shown that spells have little effect on them," Allen stood, tense, "It's not too terribly a surprise. What happens now?"

"Well," She swallowed loudly as the akuma wiggled the doorknob, "It's shown the others the entrance. It's not a secret-keeper, but since it seems so determined to bend the laws of magic, I suppose… It may well have just revealed us to everyone who has seen."

The door was locked, and it seemed that the akuma didn't have the ability to unlock locks, which was only a slight relief. That small bit of relief disappeared when the door was blasted inwards, only chunks of splinters remaining.

Hermione barely held back a scream by practically shoving a fist in her mouth. Kanda was already sweeping toward the doorway. Allen gave the others a reassuring smile and put a finger to his lips; Harry nodded. The darkness of the room covered them well – it kept their presence hidden just long enough for Kanda's sword to stick the akuma as soon as it stepped out of the view from the front door.

Harry knew he'd never forget watching what appeared to be an old man scream with a sword out of his gut; But he'd remember watching the 'old man's' face split into the horrifying creature it was even more clearly. It was Ron who had whispered a quick silencing spell around it. Lavi gave the boy a silent pat on the back for his quick thinking, and Ron blushed through his reluctant pride.

"That may have gained us a couple minutes," Allen nodded to Ron as well, "The others aren't heading in yet. I think they're waiting for some sign that it either found somebody, or it was destroyed."

"What we need is a plan," Lavi stood and rubbed at his knees, "Do we run or decimate their force?"

"I would prefer to leave as many uninjured humans as possible," Allen frowned and almost absent mindlessly helped Hermione up, "But the akuma – we can't just leave those."

Harry listened, but another thought came to mind. He turned away from them slightly and whispered,

"Kreacher."

The house elf appeared almost instantly, and his appearance right next to Lavi made the other stumble in surprise, muttering, "I don't think I'll ever get use to that."

"Yes, master Harry?" Kreacher bowed, tired but alert.

"Listen, Kreacher. There are bad people outside – the same people who hurt Regulus," He gasped, hopping up to stare out of the window with such hatred, it surprised Harry, "If they get in, if anybody gets in that isn't us, you must pretend we were never here, that you haven't seen us. You need to be careful, they won't hesitate to hurt you."

"Yes, sir, Master Harry sir. And what of them, what will you do with them?"

"I'm not sure yet," Harry admitted, "Watch over this place as well as you can, alright, but more than that, live, okay?"

Hermione sent him an bright, appreciative look. Kreacher nodded, looking around at the exorcists who talked amongst themselves, and then back at Harry,

"Is there anything else Kreacher can do for you?"

He racked his brains to think of anything else that might lessen the burden of what was surely to come, but only came up with one thing. Hermione agreed immediately, handing over her handbag for the small creature to pack food into. It did not take long, and as Kreacher disappeared afterward from his sight for perhaps the last time, Harry tuned back into the conversation happening feet away.

"-Crazy!" Ron was saying, "Bloody barmy!"

"Oh come on, I thought it was brilliant," Lavi grinned crookedly, "It's the least likely place they'd look for us at this exact moment."

"Where?" Harry asked, glancing back out at the still figures outside.

"He wants to go to the ministry!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, "He wants to do the Plan _now_, of all times."

"When's a better chance?" The other shot back.

"I think it's a good idea," Harry interrupted, "We should do it today, get it over with. They won't expect us to go there when they're here, looking for us."

"What if they guess that's our plan when they find out we're not here?" Hermione worried her lip between her teeth.

"If we don't get caught, we won't get caught," Lavi replied, shaking his finger in the air.

"Crazy," Ron muttered yet again, but resignedly.

"Have we got everything then?" Hermione looked at everyone, frowning in concern.

"No time," Allen spoke, "Here they come."

Lavi told them to hide, though the brainy witch protested, insisting they should leave immediately.

"As exorcists, it's our job to eliminate them whenever they make themselves known. So sit back and enjoy the show."

The hid behind the couch after pushing it back a little hurriedly, throwing the invisibility cloak over them moments before the first person stepped into the threshold.

The first was another akuma, or so Allen signed to Lavi and Kanda, and a ministry worker just like the first had been. It perished by Lavi's hammer smashing into it's side. The second was human, and he tried to fire off spell after spell, which all bounced off Lavi's hammer that he'd enlarged to fill the area in front of them and trap the others in the hallway.

One wizard floated another above the gap, who stunned the redhead. Quite literally. Lavi fell back, his hammer shrinking, his eyes staring at the ceiling and his mouth shaped like an 'o'. In that time, an akuma had transformed, and it's bullets rained through the thin hallway.

Kanda surged forward, drawing his sword to deflect as many as he could, but many got passed his guard, piercing his skin. He suddenly stumbled, as if disoriented, leaning against the wall as soon as the bullets ended.

"Kanda?!" Allen shouted from the sitting room, where he'd dragged Lavi.

The Japanese appeared not to have heard – he glanced up at the others that moved closer with narrowed eyes and a wrinkled nose. He broke out in a visible sweat, his face strained.

A wizard sent a serpent flying through the air, but it didn't get far. Kanda snatched it, threw it back, and grabbed the two closest him in one swift movement. One was an akuma and exploded when he stabbed it. The other seemed at least somewhat knowledgeable in what to do when unable to shoot off a spell, for he went for Kanda's eyes.

Allen had already been making his way back when he saw it – Kanda's eyes seemed to flash, darken, turn into a swirl of colors so fast he had no idea what had happened. A vein pulsed on the others forearm as Kanda suddenly snarled like an animal. The wizard was slammed into the wall, and the thin plaster had no chance. Time slowed as it crumbled and cracked, the wizards eyes dilating. Then the wall gave.

Harry and his friends all jumped when a man skidded in from the sudden hole in the wall. Heart going a mile a minute, he trusted Hermione or Ron to check for the man's consciousness, and approached Lavi. It took one spell to rejuvenate the other, and Lavi sat up, rubbing his forehead.

"Immune my ass," He stood a little wobbly, "I deserve a vacation."

Then he leaped back into the fray that was rapidly being pushed outside.

Harry had moved from under the cloak when he left his friends, and now he returned. He didn't get under cover right away, thinking that the others had moved outside by then and feeling there was no particular hurry. He checked the unconscious mans health, and discovered that he was barely breathing. Hermione whispered near his ear,

"His ribs are broken, and from what it sounds like, I think one of them pierced a lung."

"Good," Ron appeared from under the cloak then so his nodding was visible, "What goes around comes around."

Harry, however, had made a grave mistake, and he realized this when he heard the window shattering. He had been correct in that the others had moved outside, but he'd forgotten that this place wasn't a secret any longer – the windows and everything inside them were visible. Particularly him, who wasn't protected by the Invisibility cloak anymore.

Hermione shrieked, and he turned instinctively. He wasn't sure why he reached for the cloak and not her; any protection it could offer was naught against the bullet of an akuma.

He remembered briefly a few war movies he'd seen before, some years ago. Vernon found them fascinating. He had never liked them himself. But he could recall the sound of a flying missile before it made contact with something and exploded. He was reminded of this sound now, as the bullet headed for what he assumed was his back. He wished to himself that he'd stayed invisible, or at least had hurried back under cover.

Then the cloak touched his fingers and the bullet flew through him as if he weren't there.

He had held his eyes reflexively shut, but when the hot flames hit his face instead of his back, he opened his eyes, perplexed.

Hermione had been mostly at the side, under the cloak, and so the bullet had missed her. But he knew that it hadn't missed him. In fact, it had hit him right in the small of the back. Yet, there was a blacked spot directly before him that could not have hit at that angle except from behind him. The only explanation was that it had indeed gone through him, but that wasn't really an explanation at all.

"Harry? Harry!" It was Ron's voice, but looking around found that Ron was nowhere in sight. He had not been under the cloak when the window had shattered, but Harry didn't know where he could be now.

"Harry? _Ron_?!" Hermione was panicked. Harry felt her move from under the cloak, as it fell limp in his hands, and yet she still remained hidden from his eyes, "What's going _on_?!"

"I'm here," He called before either could start freaking out even further, "I don't know what happened. What's happen_ing_."

"Mate, I think you did something, because it definitely wasn't me," Ron replied, the sound of his footsteps near before pausing, "And things don't have a habit of going through me, either."

So it hadn't been his imagination running wild.

"I had just wished I hadn't moved from under the cloak. I thought I was about to bite it," Harry admitted, "The cloak had to have done it – I don't know what else it could have possibly been."

"Impossible. It's just a cloak, Harry," Hermione replied, "Admittedly, a very good one, don't get me wrong, but this cloak just doesn't work that way."

"Then what could have possibly did it if none of us did?"

"Do what?" Lavi wandered into the room then, whistling and nursing a bruise on his cheek before freezing, "Okay, where are you?"

His sleeve moved and he jumped,

"I'm right here," Hermione announced. She sounded anxious. Nobody had noticed the end of the short fight.

"Is it over already?" Ron asked from across the room.

"Whoa. Did you three figure out a way to go invisible without that wicked cloak? Because, you know, it's kinda creepy."

"Is it over?" Ron demanded impatiently.

"Well, yeah, for the most part," Lavi looked around suspiciously, "I mean, there were, like, two guys left, and I figured it'd be good to check up on you guys."

"We don't know what happened," Harry told him. He took the time to explain what had happened in detail. Allen wandered in with Kanda part way through, carrying a few limp bodies, and he started all over. It didn't honestly take long, but he still felt they were wasting time they didn't really have.

"…." Allen shared a look with Lavi, while Kanda stared at him with a rough disbelieving look.

"That… sounds a lot like Innocence," The youngest watched him carefully, "Where are you? Please make some noise."

Harry did, and they discovered that while every time Allen tried to touch him proved futile, and that he couldn't touch anything either, Allen could still make contact with Ron and Hermione.

"If it is Innocence, and it has found it's accommodator, it appears to be Harry," Lavi mused, "I think something's a little off though, or else it's not much of a fighting type. Innocence is to defeat akuma, and yet you can't touch anything, not even the akuma bullet. Perhaps it would be different for an actual akuma, but I'm thinking that's not the case."

"So? What does it mean?" Hermione demanded, and it sounded as if she'd even stomped her foot for emphasis.

"Now's not the time," Allen replied with a shake of his head, "We have to get moving, or our window of opportunity will close. No doubt other bystanders noticed the fight, and someone will know that those akuma were defeated."

Harry felt that the other was not avoiding the question for the excuse he gave. He also felt, though, that it was an adequate one nonetheless, and he decided the first step was turning off the invisibility.

With Allen and Lavi's guidance, he discovered that it was perhaps a little frustrating, but possible. It gave him the slightest of headaches that disappeared within seconds, but it left a lingering discomfort. Looking down at his visible again hands, he looked also at his cloak. It was very, very old – Dumbledore had admitted that it was more thorough and powerful than any invisibility cloak the old man had seen. He silently hoped, however, that it was not the case. He did not want to be an exorcist, and he remembered the conversation the exorcists had had with them, about exorcists not getting a choice. He remembered it vividly. And he certainly didn't want to give the cloak up, seeing as it use to be his fathers.

They gathered around each other. Ron was the one apparating this time, and everyone got into position. Harry encountered the same unpleasant sensation he did whenever he apparated, which almost completely covered the lingering one he'd had from the whole invisible escapade. Next thing he knew, he stood before the Ministry of Magic.

They all shared one last look with each other that was obvious.

'Be careful.'

__--*--__

A/N: Before anyone can ask, Harry will not up and become an exorcist. I think the idea of him being an exorcist is more plausible than one of the exorcists revealing they're a wizard, or something to that effect, but I want to mesh the worlds together without the separate worlds becoming unrecognizable. I don't know how well I'm going to do that (or, _am _doing it), but we shall see, I suppose.

I really appreciate the feedback. The ones who leave the detailed ones with tips or corrections are amazing. (I hope everyone has a great summer too, even if you haven't started it yet, or are out of school for good.)


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Ugh. This chapter… I wanted to get all of the Ministry adventure into one chapter, right? I figured, well, hey, it's alright if it's a little bigger than normal, nobody will mind. And it's chapter 13! 13 is totally my number. And 3. But this is almost (almost) twice as big as my usual ones. And I am tired of typing. And it's almost 3 in the morning (Hey, imagine that). Anyways, I diverged a bit here, as the ending and escape was changed completely. Think of the extra length as a thank you for all the reviews. For the authors who have chapters this long or longer and still manage a steady updating schedule, I admire you.

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

They couldn't enter the Ministry of Magic straight away – the workers did not start to arrive until at least eight. They took the time to began going over their almost entirely non-existent plan, for their old one was probably unusable.

Hermione pointed out that since there was a hunt going on for them, the flow of people could very well be different or strange, and she insisted that one little change could be their ruin within a matter of minutes. Not to mention that the part of the plan involving the exorcists had been shaky from the start.

So, Lavi had Harry experiment with the cloak. It quickly became rather irritating to Harry, because it was starting to give him a headache, though he didn't bother saying so. Ron believed that they should use Harry's new supposed ability to sneak in, should things with the polyjuice potion not work out; At the very least, to use it to hide the exorcists. Allen didn't particularly like the idea, for the fact that if the cloak _was_ Innocence, then they had no idea of it's limitations.

"What if we suddenly turn visible again in the middle of the hallway?" He asked, and Hermione had to agree.

Then, they were interrupted by the arrival of a wizard they didn't recognize, and barely managed to avoid being spotted.

"See!" Hermione hissed, "It's not even eight yet! This is going to go all wrong, I know it will!"

"Can't turn back now," Harry replied with a shrug that hid his nervousness, "It'll turn out all right in the end, somehow."

That didn't seem to make her feel better.

Thankfully, the first woman they had been waiting for appeared about when they had expected her to, though perhaps a little early. A silent stunning spell later and she was too unconscious to feel Hermione plucking her hair.

Lavi made quiet gagging noises that she wasn't even entirely sure were fake, while Allen covered his mouth and turned a funny green color. Kanda pointedly looked the other way, but she could have sworn that he seemed a little green as well.

"The things you wizards do…" Lavi choked softly, "Who the hell came up with the idea of putting someone's _hair_ in their potion and _drink_ it?!"

Harry decided not to answer, and the others seemed to agree. Everyone except Hermione hid once more, and next thing they knew, she, as Mafalda Hopkirk, had conned the next man into eating a candy that made him extremely ill. His attempt to continue to work, despite the sick that was rapidly coating the ally way, was admirable. The sick he left behind was not.

Ron became the next duplicate, and he dressed in the navy blue robes they had had prepared. He had taken the disguise of a man named Reg Cattermole. Together, the two had gone off and returned not too long later with hairs of a man they hadn't known for Harry.

At almost nine o'clock, they put their plan into action.

The exorcists trailed behind them, invisible due to several disillusionment charms and two old invisibility cloaks that, while not as good as Harry's, was plenty enough to hide them with the combination of charms with it. They had taken them from the Black house, which Kreacher had hid but they had found.

Down the pavement, there were two flights of stairs, separated for men and women. Hermione was nervous, and had reluctantly accepted that Kanda was going with her – Kanda because it was understood that because of Allen's eye, Allen would stick with Harry, and Lavi was too juvenile. Plus Ron felt better when her guard wasn't trying to flirt with her.

Down the steps revealed what seemed to be a public bathroom. There was only one other who was there, a man in navy blue robes, who nodded toward Harry and Ron, then stepped into a cubicle. Both stood there a moment in uncertainty, but they could see the stranger's feet disappear as he climbed into the toilet; Lavi let out a strangled noise at the sight.

The moment Harry stepped into the toilet, he knew that he'd done the right thing. Despite standing in water, he was not at all wet. He hesitated when nothing happened right away, but then he turned toward his friend and guards with a wane smile,

"Bottoms up?" Ron chuckled, but it came out only vaguely amused.

Harry flushed the toilet, and immediately was flying through a thin chute, emerging out of a fireplace in the Ministry of Magic. He was a little troubled for a moment, for his current physique was much larger, and quite a bit taller, than what he was use to. He was aware of the fact that the place was fairly bare, for not many others were around. Occasionally another would slip in through one of the many fireplaces around the room, but they were quick to scurry off.

He discovered that it had changed since the last time he had been there. The previous gold fountain was replaced with huge black stone sculptures of a man and a woman sitting atone a throne, looking down around them. Below were the words etched in, 'Magic is Might'.

He was quick to hurry to where he recognized his friends were standing, waving them over. Hermione was just a little panicked.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he neared, but he needn't have spoken, for he could immediately see what was wrong.

The exorcists still wore the cloaks, but it seemed the charms had somehow been knocked off. They weren't completely invisible anymore, and whenever they moved, it was clear that _something_ was there.

"I knew _something_ would happen," Hermione whispered fiercely, "Of _course _they would have at least a few minor protections up! Weak disillusionment charms like before are no good!"

"No choice then," Harry muttered, pulling the cloak from under his robes, "But I don't know how well this will work out."

He had discovered that he needed physical contact with the cloak to keep up the invisibility of whoever he cast it on. He folded the cloak very carefully before stuffing in discreetly between his side and his shirt, tucked also into his pants. He felt the discomfort wash over him that he was rapidly coming to dislike, and the blurry shapes disappeared completely.

"Lucky nobody saw," Ron commented, "Seems strangely empty, don't you think?"

"I imagine so, since there is a man hunt going on for _us_ right now," Harry replied.

The next room was one with more people, waiting for a lift to take them to where they needed to go. It seemed that things must be made difficult for them at all times, for Ron found himself being called out by a man named Yaxley. Yaxley seemed a little out of it, but he still managed to insult the man that Ron was pretending to be, revealing that the man's wife was to be interrogated in suspicion for having 'stolen magic'. Yaxley then demanded Ron go and sort out his office, which was apparently raining.

Nobody followed them into the lift after that.

Hermione was quick to try giving Ron the instructions for him to do his job, but then his floor came, and she pushed him out. Just as she began to doubt the intelligence of that, claiming that perhaps she should follow, the lift stopped once more and who should appear but Umbridge herself?

Umbridge then took charge of Hermione, deciding she 'would do' to do some record keeping. Harry found himself on that floor, then, all alone. Or perhaps not, seeing as he had three people invisible that was suppose to be following him. The Minister, who had been with Umbridge but had not boarded the lift, greeted him.

"What brings you up here, Runcorn?"

"Needed a quick word with… Arthur Weasly. Someone said he was up on level one," Harry replied, silently hoping his slight pause hadn't been noticed. It didn't seem it had.

"Ah. Had he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?"

"No, nothing like that," He tried to swallow, but his throat was mysteriously dry.

"Ah, well. Only a matter of time," Thicknesse, the Minister, answered, "If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn."

"Good day, Minister."

He could almost imagine he could hear the sound of somebody that wasn't the Minister stepping aside, if he strained his ears. As soon as the Minister was out of sight, he tugged on the invisibility cloak. When it was on, though he had to hunch to cover his large feet, he felt the discomfort increase and he spotted a shimmering spot of air just a few feet away.

"Um… Which one…?" He trailed off, not wanting to offend, but not knowing which exorcist was with him. A voice whispered in his ear,

"Just me, Harry," It was Allen then, "Kanda went with Hermione again, and Lavi followed Ron."

Harry wondered how Allen would know when his friends hadn't been in sight, but didn't bother to ask. He needed to make as little noise as possible.

As he made his way down the hall, passing door after door, each accompanied by a plaque with a name and occupation, he almost felt panicked. All the planning that they had done to sneak in this complex, almost impenetrable place seemed so childish now. That he had come here impulsively even after his plan had been practically destroyed had been foolish. They had never thought about what to do if separated, though he felt minimally better knowing that none of them was alone.

What would they do now that Ron was off doing magic possibly too hard for him, and Hermione was in court proceedings, which could last hours? Now here he was, wandering when he knew his target had just walked by him and gone down the lift.

The silence was starting to get to him, and he felt himself take a deep breath. He needed to keep a cool head. He needed to keep his mind on his task. One step at a time.

Figuring Umbridge's office was probably on this floor, he decided that, despite the fact that the chances were small, he should check her office for the locket anyway. He began to pay attention to the plaques, passing more and more.

Around the corner, he found a large room in which many witches and wizards stood, waving their wand in the same way. He thought he heard Allen mutter something about it being slightly creepy, though he himself didn't think so. He would have paid closer attention, for it really was interesting, but he felt a tug on the cloak, and then a voice, very close and very quiet, whispered,

"Look – to the left – that door," Allen shifted guiding the others sight.

When he spotted the door, Harry thought of little through his anger. The mahogany door held, instead of a peep hole, a magical eye he recognized very well. He felt confused too, though, and doubtful, for he had seen Moody disappear into dust with nothing left behind other than his clothes. Had the magical eye also fallen, and Harry just not noticed?

But he was certain that was exactly what the eye was; he could recognize it anywhere. The eye didn't move when he approached it. The plaque below it read 'Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to The Minister,' and then below that, 'Head of Muggle-born Registration Commission.'

He used a Decoy Detonator to draw the others in the rooms attention – after all, they would certainly notice a door opening and closing by itself. As soon as the device exploded in a corner, causing several to jump up in alarm, he slipped inside, leaving the door open for Allen. The door shut seconds later.

"How… unpleasant," Allen commented slowly as Harry reveled in nostalgia. The room was exactly like the room Umbridge had when she had been the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, all girly and frilly.

"You don't know the half of it," Harry murmured as he looked about the pink room, "Disgusting, isn't it?"

"The color itself would be much less disgusting if it wasn't used so… abundantly," Allen touched the flowered clothe that covered the desk, "I think it's a little too much."

"Just a little?" Harry looked through the file cabinet, reading a few files, Arthur's in particular, and feeling angry when he spotted the poster of himself on the wall.

"It's a good thing Kanda isn't here," Allen was still saying, "I wonder if he would have had a heart attack? Hmm."

He pretended to ponder, humming softly, before noticing what had caught the others attention. He laughed softly.

"If somebody had a poster of me on their wall, I think I would be a little bugged out," He fingered the little note stuck to it that read 'To be punished', "Plus, it seems like they want you pretty badly. The name Undesirable Number One is sort of contradictory, isn't it?"

"Well, the Ministry isn't known for their intelligence," Harry turned away, and began actively searching the room after his first accio spell showed nothing. With Allen's help, he was able to discern that the locket wasn't there – not in the drawers, not under anything, not at the bottom of the any of the vases. He sighed in disappointment, but not surprise.

"So then we need to find the woman herself, right?"

"I guess so. You remember the one we passed getting off the lift? The one that looked like a toad?"

"Er, yes," Allen blushed slightly, having thought of the woman similarly but too polite to say it out loud.

"That was her. That was Umbridge."

"Oh?" His eyebrows shot of and he frowned, "You should have said so. Kanda would have known what to look for."

It was then the door opened. Harry almost panicked, having had to take off the effect the cloak gave him, seeing as he couldn't touch anything otherwise. If the man hadn't been looking over his shoulder, Harry didn't think he would have been able to swing the cloak over his shoulders in time. In his hurry, he was sure that the Minister, who entered, had seen a glimmer of something, but the other seemed to pass it off.

He backed out very slowly, aware that he could see the faint shimmer that was Allen, which he was only able to see when he too went invisible, do the same. The workers outside were all recovering from the recent excitement. He hurried back toward the lift.

He was aware that as he did, his headache had started to gnaw at his head, and it was at that point where he couldn't simply ignore it. Annoyed, he rubbed his temples as he walked.

"What are your thoughts now?" He heard Allen ask, and he was slightly satisfied that the other spoke so quietly. The headache was a very persistent one that he was quickly realizing must be connected to his cloak.

"We need… to find the others. There's no chance we can yank Hermione from the court, so we need to just find a safe way out," He answered, feeling even more disappointment at what he knew was a failure. There was silence for a few moments.

"… Not that I disagree with you, because normally I'd agree, but I'm not so sure we'll get another chance to do this again," Allen sighed softly, tiredly, "The locket might change hands at any time, or any other numerous possibilities. I don't know the significance of it, but if you've gone through so much trouble, it has to be important, yes?"

Harry hesitated. It was important, he could say that with ease, but he wasn't sure just how much Dumbledore wanted him to trust the exorcists. He didn't even know how much the others knew about his mission; that, he realized, was very discerning. How much did they know, and not mention?

"It's a Horcrux," He decided to both tell the truth. He did not want to tell anybody who did not know already, but he was left with little choice, in this case. He tried to measure the others reaction to the word. That was particularly hard to do when all he had to go on was a voice. Thankfully, the other made it easy on him,

"Oh! Oh, well then, I doubly stand for what I said before," He was admittedly startled that the exorcist knew what a Horcrux was, "Perhaps you should secure a way out, and maybe two of us will stay behind…?"

"No. You wouldn't know how to get out anyway," He replied firmly, ignoring a sound of Allen disagreeing, "Besides, how do you know what a Horcrux is anyway?"

They reached the lift, and he was relieved to find it empty. He stepped inside, and when he was sure the other had followed, sent it on it's way.

"Well, Dumbledore left us all the things we needed to know. That is to say, he left us a list of things for somebody to research, along with where to search and the means to. He was a very mysterious man, I imagine, and he seemed to want us to get our own conclusion."

Harry swallowed painfully at the past tense, pulling off the cloak and placing it back to his side.

"Did you meet him?" He asked, honestly curious.

"I did. Briefly. All three of us did, along with two friends of ours."

He wondered what Dumbledore would have thought when he met the exorcists at their home. Would he have pitied the children who had to fight the world, much like himself? Would he have smiled reassuringly, proud that these same children had taken a mantle nobody else could? And then he realized that he really was more similar to the exorcists than he had thought.

The lift's doors opened and Ron appeared.

"M-morning," Ron stammered as the lift jerked back to life.

"How forgetful, Ronnie-poo," Lavi's voice came, and Harry lifted an eyebrow at the name, "That you would forget Harry's…. oh well, no, I guess I can't fault you for forgetting his _new_ face, at least."

"Oh! Whoops!" Ron smiled wanly, "I did forget. Where's Hermione?"

"She had to go down to the courtrooms with Umbridge, and she couldn't refuse,-"

The lift doors opened again, letting in Mr. Weasly and another witch whose hair resembled that of an anthill. The whole ride was uncomfortable. Combined with the fact that the two exorcists tried to press themselves against the walls to avoid being found as well as the wizards longing to speak to the man, Harry seemed to be in a disguise that Arthur particularly disliked.

He was aware of his headache again, and it seemed dead set on making it hard for him to think. He barely noticed when Percy Weasly boarded and Ron slipped off to find somebody or another because he hadn't been able to stop the raining office. He had tried to follow, but well, it hadn't worked out so well.

When he was able to get off on the floor he knew he needed to be on, he found himself in a hallway made of stone. He shivered slightly, and gave a wide berth to the door to the distant black door marking the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.

He started walking, once more pulling on the cloak. He tried to think of possibilities to extract Hermione from what she was doing, but his list was dangerously short. He didn't even know if Runcorn was important enough to pull 'Mafalda' away, and if he was, there was a great possibility that her extended disappearance might trigger suspicion and a search. Should he cause a diversion? But then, her disappearance then would be slightly more suspicious, and would she even recognize the sign to bolt? He ignored a particularly hard pound of his head as he tried to think.

"Harry," Allen's voice made him jump, "What is that?"

Harry turned to look before remembering that even if the other was pointing, it wasn't like he could see it, but it made him aware of something. The air carried a heavy chill, and as he continued, the chill deepened until he was almost shivering,

"Dementors," He whispered, though not for the quiet factor. He didn't really think of his companion, his thoughts more centered on what might lay ahead.

Then they turned the corner and discovered the long hallway lined with Dementors. Allen gasped softly. These creatures were a different kind of horror from an akuma. The kind that brought out those childish fears that you thought you'd grown out of.

There were muggles there, waiting, sitting amongst wooden benches. Many kept their heads in their hands, or otherwise shielded their faces. The Dementors glided up and down around them, stealing their happy emotions, leaving nothing behind except cruel hopelessness and fear. This set upon him immediately, and the effect was almost crippling. He told himself to fight it, thinking of all his friends and everyone who needed him.

"Harry," Allen's voice was strained and quiet. Then, with a rush, Harry remembered that the other was an exorcist. A fighter. Someone who had witnessed death aplenty, and probably pain too. Harry was sure that Allen had quite a bit of a past, the boys appearance screamed it, and he had no idea how badly the Dementors could or would effect the other. But they couldn't go back.

"Fight it," He whispered back, "Think of happy things."

His choice of reply was very limited – they could be caught any moment and had to be careful not to make too much noise. He inexplicably wanted to reach out and perhaps touch Allen, just to let the other know he wasn't alone, to offer any strength he could give, but he couldn't even do that. Then the dungeon doors were flung open and he heard screams echoing from within,

"No, no, I'm a half-blood, I'm half-blood, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he was, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he's a well known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you – get your hands off, get your hands off –"

"This is your final warning. If you continue to struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor's Kiss," It was Umbridge's voice that floated out the door, magnified to be heard over the desperate screams the man inside was making. Harry felt his stomach clench, his headache sky rocket, and it didn't fade even when the screams faded to dry sobs.

"Take him away," Umbridge commanded.

As two Dementors carried an almost unconscious wizard from sight, he become aware of Allen's slightly haggard breathing. He worried the other would faint, like he did in his first encounter.

"Hang on, Allen," He murmured, and at the sound of his name, Allen's breathing evened out slightly, "You've got to think of happy things. Not too long now, and we'll be out of here. You have friends, don't you Allen?"

"…Of course I do," Allen managed to sounded slightly offended even through his struggle.

"Back at your home, do you have a lot?"

"Certainly," His breathing didn't seem so loud anymore, and Harry was surprised that the thoughts of the others friends were so strong.

"Next – Mary Cattermole," called Umbridge.

He knew he needed to get the other out of the Dementors range, and he needed to hurry. But when he saw the small woman move to the door, he couldn't stand the sight. He didn't have a plan. He simply followed her into the courtroom. Allen followed closely behind.

There were more Dementors inside. Umbridge, Yaxley, and Hermione were on a raised platform where a silver Patronus cat patrolled, protecting them from the Dementors despair.

"Sit down," Umbridge spoke softly as Harry moved toward the platform. As soon as the accused sat, chains emerged from the chair she sat in and tied her there.

The air behind the Patronus was noticeably warmer, and he felt the weight of the creatures slide from his shoulders. Allen's presence all but disappeared again, recovered from his earlier inner struggle. They listened as Umbridge addressed the woman before her, and Harry led the way, slipping behind the three. He sat behind Hermione, worried of how to alert her to his presence. But then her sleeve moved – just slightly, almost unnoticeable, and her head turned only a little. Another tug, and she tensed slightly. She leaned back in her chair, and he reached out and tugged a little on a small lock of her hair. She seemed to relax.

"- tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?" Umbridge was saying. Mrs. Cattermole was sobbing as she denied taking her wand from another for herself. The witch that Harry had come here for leaned forward, emitting a girlish laugh and something fell free from her shirt. A golden locket. The very same one he was searching for.

Nobody noticed Hermione's squeak, and he felt his hands begin to sweat.

"No. No, I don't think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only chose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have seen your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here – Mafalda, pass them to me."

Hermione, shocked as she was, fumbled with the documents for a few moments. Her hands shook as she handed the piece she'd been looking for over. Then, pointing at the locket, she spoke,

"That's – that's pretty, Dolores."

"What? Oh yes – an old family heirloom," Umbridge patted the locket, "The S stands for Selwyn,… I am related to the Selwyns… Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related. A pity that the same cannot be said for you," She flicked her hands trough the papers, motioning toward the other witch down below, "'Parent's professions: greengrocers.'"

Yaxley laughed, and the sound of it was more insulting to Harry at the moment than usual. He felt rage filling up his mind at the fact that she used the locket she'd taken as a bribe from a criminal to up her social standing. He almost saw red, as they say, and his headache seemed to beat alongside his heart. Next thing he knew, he was throwing caution to the wind, and he pulled his wand from the cloak hissed out a stupefy.

Dolores fell like a rock, hitting her head as she went down. Her Patronus disappeared, causing cold air to sweep in like a tidal wave and hit them head on. Yaxley looked for the disturbance instantly, alarmed, but then he was out too.

"Harry!"

He rushed to defend himself, for he would have done the same thing a second time, but was interrupted,

"Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!"

The invisibility cloak slid from his shoulders as he ran forward, intent on protecting the woman from the suddenly converging Dementors. He wasn't sure why the creatures were suddenly dropping their restraint, but he figured it was because there was no longer anybody there to control them. He caught sight of the two exorcists from the corner of his eyes. Allen was looking out of it, his eyes staring off into the distance, while Kanda was wavering dangerously from side to side. Both were very much visible to the naked eye.

"Expecto Patronum!"

His stag erupted from his wand, driving the Dementors back immediately. It cantered around the room, filling it with warmth.

Hermione hurriedly went for the Horcrux while Allen grabbed the invisibility cloak from the ground, still looking slightly uneasy.

"You?" Mrs. Cattermole spoke as Harry neared, "But – but Reg said you were the one who submitted my name for questioning!"

He decided not to reply, instead going about trying to free her.

Allen was trying to shake off the complete desolate hopelessness he'd felt only moments ago. He was smart enough to realize it was the effect of the Dementor creatures, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. He hadn't felt anything quite like that before. He could see that Kanda seemed to have been going through the same trouble, and it was unsettling to see the usually impassive swordsman with such a look of uncertainty and other emotions he hadn't time to place.

Allen was aware of the silver stag prancing about the room. It seemed to be the current source of warmth. Then he noticed Harry was moving toward the door, and he hurried to follow.

Outside were scared families. It hurt him to see the expressions of fear, especially when they feared their own people, their own government. He listened with only half an ear to Harry, who was giving out instructions. He was the first to go for the doors, and he was in the lead until Harry caught up with him. They went uninterrupted all the way through the stone hallway. It was just as they reached the lift that it opened to reveal Ron and Lavi, both looking panicked,

"Hey, hey, I don't know what you did, but seriously? Big mistake," Lavi was talking fast, shaking his head and whipping his slightly damp red hair around, "Did you really think it was a good idea to suddenly pull off the cloak, or whatever, when I was _in the middle of people_?!"

Harry cursed. He hadn't thought of Lavi, or the fact that when he'd lifted the invisibility from them, it applied to Lavi as well.

"Reg!" Mrs. Cattermole screamed, throwing herself at Ron, who caught her with a blink of surprise. He listened to her go on almost hysterically, and abruptly cut her off, "Sorry, but I'm not your husband," she blinked rapidly, as if uncomprehending.

"Listen," Ron looked to Harry while he pulled himself from the woman, "I don't know what happened with you, but they already suspected intruders, something about a hole in Umbridge's office door. Then the thing on Lavi came off, and the whole place is in an uproar. I tried disabling the lift, but I don't think it'll last long – "

Then the lift began to move, and Hermione gave a slight shriek,

"We're gonna get trapped here!" She whimpered, taking a step back as her Patronus vanished.

Harry turned toward the group of frightened muggles-accused, standing tall – which wasn't hard to do with Runcorn's great height – and spoke loudly,

"Go back to the court room!"

They did. Almost tripping over each other, the group ran back to the room they'd come from. The Dementors had piled out, and Harry and Ron used their Patronus to drive them back against the walls as they filed into the dungeon doors that Harry had left only a few moments before.

He heard shouts, and he turned just in time to see the beginnings of a group running at him before the doors slammed closed. He began doing everything he could think of to seal off the doors, and he heard the other two doing the same. There were people sobbing behind them, and Harry tried to ignore his own rising panic.

He felt trapped, and indeed they were. They had nowhere to go. It was a dead end. Game over. Apparating was out of the question, and the only exit had the whole Ministry on the other side. He wondered what had possessed him to think he could do this -–sneak into the Ministry of Magic and get out unscathed. Was he going to be the death of all these people, and his friends? His headache was almost gone now, but he could feel that it would have no problem flaring up again if he continued to think this way.

"Harry, we're blocked off," Ron's eyes were wide, "We can't get out of here."

Something huge appeared to hit the door, and everyone inside stilled.

"There's no way out?" Allen demanded, surprisingly not afraid, but instead determined, "None? No apparating? Nothing?"

"The Ministry's been cut off from apparating," Hermione replied, her eyes suspiciously bright, "If only we had acted a little quicker!"

Somebody let out a loud sob. Harry felt as if he were drowning then, in his plight, and there weren't even any Dementors around. His Patronus disappeared with a pop. The people around him were pale and shaken. There had to be a way…

The door lurched and almost opened, but Hermione screamed a spell he didn't recognize and it shut again.

Harry saw Allen push his way as politely as he could toward the platform, where an unconscious Umbridge and Yaxley still lay, though now they stirred.

"Keep on the door!" He told a pale and sweating Ron and another wizard who had started to make himself useful. He rushed forward, Hermione at his heels.

As he reached the top of the platform, he quickly re-stunned the two, and looked to the exorcist,

"What are you doing?"

"I have a way out of here," Allen replied softly, "But I'm wondering if perhaps we can make these two a little more useful. Is there a way, perhaps, to frame them?"

Hermione frown, puzzled. She jolted noticeably when another bang echoed from the door, and she struggled to concentrate.

"They're too well known for anyone to believe they'd suddenly switch sides. I can't think of a believable lie…"

"I doesn't have to cover our tracks or anything," Lavi spoke as he as Kanda leveled themselves nearby, "Just cause trouble. You know? Something believable enough to stir things up after we're gone."

She continued to struggle, but it appeared that she had little luck. They ended up making Umbridge believe that she had seen three unknown boys, young-adult, and that they did not resemble Harry Potter or any his friends, to their knowledge. It was the best they could do.

"I don't see the point, you know, what with on the other side of the door…" Harry trailed off, looking once more at the door. There was now a huge split up it. He looked to Allen then, feeling hope that the other had been telling the truth when he'd mentioned a way out.

Allen walked a little ways away, and for a few long moments, just stood there with his eyes closed. The floor underneath his feet began to glow, and an invisible wind threw his hair about him, ruffling his clothes. Then the light expanded, until what appeared to be a very tall, very bright, very strangely shaped, door of light stood behind them with the numbers 42 outlined at the top.

As amazed as Harry was, he could only do a great impression of a fish out of water for several seconds. Then Allen took charge, and he saw the leader in the younger boy that seemed far more use to giving orders than Harry was.

"Everyone, through here. Go through this door, but don't go far from the other side," As they milled about before approaching, he added, "Wait once you're inside."

The first person to disperse inside was the wizard that had had his wits about him enough to help protect the door. When nothing catastrophic happened immediately, the people began to hurry toward the light, toward their one hope. Harry felt hope as well, once again, and it soared as more and more people left this room.

Then the door was blasted inwards and he was reminded everything he had at stake.

The blast sent Ron flying, and Lavi and Kanda ran by him in a blur, fast enough to ruffle his clothes. Kanda covered Ron, who appeared curled around his arm in pain. Lavi was twirling his hammer around in the air as it grew, until he was forced to use it to block the oncoming spells. Hermione screamed Ron's name, yelling for him, but the Weasly seemed to not hear her over the oncoming chaos, the sound of which had the remaining escaping people to began to force their way toward the door.

Harry lunged for Ron. The first thing he saw was red, literally, and as he neared, he feared the worst. A green spell shot for his chest, and his reflexes saved him, sending him skidding on his knees to Ron's side as he fired a disarming spell and hit the wizard in the stomach.

He turned Ron over, and discovered that the other had a mangled right arm, broken at the elbow and quite possibly more, as well as a large gash that was rapidly expelling blood at an alarming rate. He sat there, listening to his heavy breathing and his friend's own uneven, pained breaths.

"Harry!" He looked up to see Allen, who reached him within a few seconds. Allen looked over the wound with worried eyes, "We need to get him out of here. I'll carry him."

Feeling suddenly protective, Harry wanted to argue, wanted to be the one to carry his friend to safety. But then Ron was up, covered by a silver cloak, and he had no choice but to follow. He fired spell after spell, hitting an opposing witch or wizard nearly every time.

The entrance to the door was cleared, and he lunged for it when he heard an explosion. Turning, he was abruptly amazed at the sight of a huge dragon of fire, warding the Ministry workers off. At it's base was Lavi, who was rapidly turning and waving for them to run. He felt something iron tight clasp onto him forearm before his eyes were blinded by light.

It only lasted a few seconds, and next thing he knew, he was in what appeared to be a pleasant city, full of white buildings of all sorts of shapes and sizes. The sky was bright. The city seemed empty – he could hear nothing except the frightened whispering of the group of magical folk they'd led there. They caught sight of him, and gasped.

He ignored them, and made to step away from the entrance when something collided with his back. He was sent sprawling, a heavy weight on his back, and for a split second he thought he was being attacked. Then he heard Lavi yelling in his ear,

"I said run, not stand there like an idiot!" Then somebody else must have come through, and they promptly tripped on the two on the ground, falling on top of them.

"What the hell?" Kanda growled, pushing himself up. He was almost instantly shoved right back down, the weight pushing the air from Harry's lungs.

The door slammed shut as one lone spell slipped though and harmlessly hit the wall just over Kanda's head.

All was completely silent for many long moments.

"Um… I can't… breath," Harry wheezed.

"Oh! So sorry," Lavi exclaimed, pushing himself up too quick, and smashing the back of his head against Kanda's face. The Japanese let out several colorful curses, "Sorry Yuu!"

Lavi experienced his face hitting the stone next to Harry's head seconds later, with a growled, "Don't call me by my first name."

The witches and wizards backed away rapidly at this display, and Harry took the time to get his breath back when he noticed something very important. His first clue was when his eyes landed on Hermione's… and saw Hermione, not Mafalda. Startled, he looked down and discovered that he was back to normal as well, but that didn't quite make sense. The potion shouldn't be worn off so completely, so soon.

"We need to get going," Allen said, still carrying Ron, and Hermione gave a gasp, "I don't suppose any of you can apparate from here?"

Many tried then, and they all failed instantly.

"I didn't think so. Follow me."

They were led a little ways away, apparently a few streets actually, and Harry was reminded of how very strange this place was.

Allen paused before another door, in which he opened and motioned towards as well as he could with his arms full, "Go through here. On the other side, you'll find yourselves in what appears to be a destroyed room. Apparate home from there, and then take care of your things."

"You should leave the country," Harry spoke up, though his voice was no longer loud and imposing, "You should be able to see that you won't get a fair trial from the Ministry."

The people filed out, and Lavi sidled up beside his junior,

"So, where'd you send them?"

"The old castle."

"Wait. You don't mean the old _Black Order_ castle?" Lavi's eyes narrowed.

"I do, actually."

"You're already going to be in who knows how much trouble for using the Ark, and now you've led them to the old headquarters," He whistled, though it seemed far from complimentary, "You really know how to cause a stir, Allen."

The last person stepped out, and Allen followed. Harry, curious, stuck his head out as well.

What he found was a room, was a structure, so utterly destroyed that he couldn't imagine what it might have been like before. It had to be some kind of castle, for if he looked up, he could see a huge hole in the ceiling, and the ceiling after it, and many ceilings after that, for too many floors to count. There was rubble everywhere, and he caught Allen looking up out at the destruction with a wistful look on his face. The last person apparated, and the white haired exorcist turned back toward the ark.

"What happened there?" Harry demanded once everyone was back inside and the door shut.

"The Earl attacked us," Allen replied, much to his surprise, "Not himself, of course, that's the result of a lot of akuma and a Noah."

"And it wasn't even _a lot_ of akuma," Lavi added, now holding Ron carefully, "Really, all that damage was mostly caused by _one_ akuma. A level four. I thought we were all goners that time. Seriously close call."

Harry wanted to know more, and he said so.

"Another time," Allen smiled, "Right now, Ron needs some help."

And so Harry sighed, feeling that once more, important information was being kept from him.

__--*--__

A/N: ughhhhhhhh. Took forEVER to write. Mnn. I hope everyone enjoyed, and that this whole thing was worth it. Reviews would be _very_ appreciated.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I'm, like, the most nocturnal person I know. Whenever my body gets the chance, it starts switching my sleeping schedule until I sleep from about nine in the morning to nine in the evening… So as I'm writing this, it is 5:22 am. Hmm. (ended at 8:18 am)

Also! I went through all previous chapters and edited them – fixing spelling errors, and adding in a sentence or two. It's nowhere near important enough to have to go back and read again or anything, but I felt I should say so. Perhaps I'll do that every five or ten chapters or something… And it seems as though if you compare the first chapter to a recent one, there's a bit of difference… Or is that my imagination?

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Allen helped a pale faced Ron sit down at the base of a tree. It's branches hung low, and it's leaves were starting to color as the seasons progressed. Many of the trees around them were much the same, and the sky stared down at them as a dreary gray. The wind was chilly, but the temperature wasn't on the forefront of anybodies mind.

"How are you feeling, Ron?" Hermione asked anxiously, bending down on his other side.

"What do you think?" He grumbled, "Lousy."

"Your arm is going to need to be set," Allen announced as he examined the bloody arm, "Then treated as well as possible. I don't suppose you have much in the way of medical supplies, do you?"

"Well, no, not much. I hadn't expected-" She waved at the wound looking a little sick, "Something like this to happen. But, I do have something to stop the bleeding."

She rummaged inside her bag for a few moments before withdrawing a small bottle; before she could open it, Allen motioned for her to hold on.

"So where are we?" Ron glanced around tiredly, spotting Harry watching in concern from his place by Lavi a couple feet a way, while Kanda was facing the other direction. He seemed a little unstable and uncomfortable. His hands, fisted so tightly the knuckles were white, were the biggest sign that something was wrong with him.

"We're in a forest in Germany," Allen replied as he held the others arm gently.

"Germany?!" Hermione blinked, startled.

"Went on a mission here once," he gave her a very brief smile before looking back to what he was doing, "It was the very first time I'd met a Noah. We gained another exorcist at the end of it all."

"Oh! The one with Lenalee, when you got the-" Lavi motioned to his own eye, "The one where we first met afterwards?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Got the what?" Harry frowned, looking between them, "When you first got your scar?"

"No!" Allen shook his head, "I received this scar when I was young. On the mission in Germany, I met the Noah named Road. She was… not very nice."

"Stabbed out his eye with a candle," Lavi added with a nod, ignoring the resulting gasp, "Then we met, and I had to teach little Allen a lesson on exorcism."

"A little less – Ow!" Ron let out a pained gasp, his head thrown back hard enough in his pain that it collided with the tree. He sat there breathing hard, eyes clenched shut, "A little warning next time, mate?"

"Hopefully there won't be a next time," Allen motioned to Hermione, who shifted over to pour a couple drops of the potion onto the renewed bleeding after he'd reset the bone. It stopped almost instantly, some new skin grew, and it appeared suddenly several days old. He blinked in amazement.

"Essence of Dittany," She closed the bottle once more, "Now we… wrap it up?"

"No. In my suitcase is a first aid kit. Could you get that, please?"

She did, pulling out the miniature suitcase and re-enlarging it. Allen opened it and pulled out a medium sized first aid kit, setting it on top of his luggage.

"Are we going to be safe here? Should we move on?" Harry wondered as he moved to sit in front of Ron.

"To where? If you haven't noticed, your government is tearing themselves apart to get to you," Lavi leaned on his back with a shrug, "This is about as safe as you're going to get."

"Then we should put up some protective charms," Hermione stood, dusting herself off, before walking around in a rough circle. She muttered spells under her breath as she went, her wand waving in a continuous motion, "And you should get out the tent, Harry."

"Tent?"

"In the bag!"

Behind her, almost everyone shared a slight look of bewilderment. Harry moved to the bag and managed to find the tent within a few moments. It was pretty distinctive under his fingertips, with the thin poles and the rough cloth. A wave from Hermione's wand, and it immediately put itself together. There was just enough room between the trees that he'd dropped the pieces between, though it was a tight fit. Lavi whistled appreciatively,

"It's like everywhere I turn, there's a surprise!"

"Where do you sleep on missions? At an Inn?" She frowned and moved back to her injured friend's side. Ron hissed as Allen ran a wet cotton ball, soaked with a cleaning solution, across his wound.

"Usually. Or, if we're unlucky, the ground. Like normal, non-magical people. Unfortunately, not everyone can carry around a tent inside a tiny little handbag."

"The ground?" Ron exclaimed weakly, opening his eyes for the first time, "As in on the dirt?"

"As in on the dirt," Lavi confirmed, "You wizards have it so good…"

Silence reigned for several moments. Harry, remembering with a jolt, pulled something out of his pockets and held it in his hands in near wonder. A bright blue eye stared up at him blankly. Lavi was the first to notice, seeing as he had been leaning on the others back.

"Is that… what I think it is?" He shook his head, "Tell me you're not holding a human eye in your hands, Harry."

Kanda turned with furrowed brows, obviously curious. Hermione gave an abrupt gasp,

"Isn't that?!"

"I'm positive it is," Harry nodded slightly, and at Ron's questioning stare, held it up for the other to see, "It was in Umbridge's door, which is probably how they were so sure there were already intruders."

"Oh! Speaking of the Ministry!" She reached into her own pocket, from which she withdrew a golden locket that seemed to almost glint maliciously.

"You got it?!" Ron sat up straighter, only to slump down in pain when he accidentally twisted his broken arm, "Why didn't you say so? Nobody tells me anything!"

"We were a little busy at the time, don't you think?" She handed it over with a roll of her eyes. He began twisting it about his one good hand in fascination, eyes wide.

"Hey… you can feel it… Can't you?" He held it out to Harry with even wider eyes, who took it with a frown. Indeed, as it fell into his hands, Harry could feel a very light pulsation. It was as if inside, there was a small heart, beating strongly. But it felt wrong, malicious, and he was almost amazed that in his hands, he held a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul. A shadow fell over him, and he found both Lavi and Kanda staring at it contemplatively.

"Do you want to see it?" He asked politely.

"Uh, no thanks," Lavi laughed nervously, "I'd rather keep it as far away from me as possible, if you don't mind."

"Scared?" Ron taunted, ignoring Hermione's annoyed rebuke.

"A little," The others stared in surprise, "It just feels wrong, you know? Evil. Angry. Powerful. Tainted. I just don't want to touch it."

Kanda's eyes fell on the dangling locket that they had all almost lost everything over. His gaze was intense, and Harry found himself holding it up until the other looked away. He looked at it for a long moment as well, and didn't tear his gaze away until he heard Allen say,

"There. Keep it up like that, and don't try moving it or anything."

Ron's arm was now bandaged tightly, covering the splint the exorcist had used, and held in a makeshift sling. He gingerly shifted it into a more comfortably situation before sighing in resignation.

They took turns with the watch – there were six of them, plenty to do so and still have time to themselves. Though Harry had argued it, the exorcist had longer watches, as well as the night watches, which they had decided ahead of time. Lavi and Allen were truly amazed at the inside of the tent – they expected the inside of a _normal_ tent, and found instead what seemed to be a small apartment of some sort. It had enough room for them all, despite it being slightly cramped, as well as a kitchen, which Lavi had awed over.

Harry kept the Horcrux around his own neck. But as it started to grow late, he found himself with nothing to do but think. It wasn't pleasant; all he could think of was his close call today. What did that say about the future? How was he going to pull it off anyhow? He had no grand plot. No secret knowledge. He had nothing. He had even lost a fair bit. Though they had managed to get the locket, it had almost been the first, and last, Horcrux they would have gained. They could have died. They almost _did_ die. Ron was wounded, and they were all shaken in the aftermath.

Then, if he managed to pull off a miracle and destroy every single one, what of Voldemort himself? He had nothing to use against the other. He didn't have a secret weapon, and he most certainly wasn't one himself. Voldemort was older, stronger, more experienced.

His mind also wandered to the matter with the exorcists. He had known them for almost two month now – he knew them a little better, certainly, but he'd only skimmed the surface of his mysterious guards. It wasn't even the exorcists themselves that bothered him; he might even be able to say he'd grown accustomed and use to their presence. It was constant, after all. No, he was concerned about the Innocence. What had Dumbledore promised them? They claimed his old mentor had left information on other items too, and he suddenly wondered if his cloak was one of them.

"Harry?" He started badly, having been so far into his thoughts; he hadn't noticed Allen's approach, "Are you alright?"

"Oh," He tried to smile, but it came out more as a wince, "I guess so. You?"

"I'm hanging on," Allen knelt beside him with a slight smile, "It's not all it's cracked up to be, is it?"

"What?"

"Being a Hero."

"I'm… not a Hero," Harry shook his head to the side, "I'm just doing the job Dumbledore left me to do."

"If that's the case, then why don't you let someone else do it?" He blinked.

"Well, I – he said – I'm the only one –" He struggled to defend what he knew by heart. It could only be him. Only him.

"See?" Allen smiled, "Anyways, Hermione set dinner out. Up for it?"

For some reason, that smile seemed to do the opposite as it was suppose to do. It wasn't calming or reassuring. It was… it seemed almost as if the other understood what was _to come_. What lied ahead. He didn't want to know what lied ahead. He didn't want to walk this heavy, dark path.

"Harry?"

He didn't want to lose others. How many had the exorcists lost, he wondered? How much would he lose by the end of it all? Or, would he even be alive to know what it was he'd lost?

"Harry!"

His scar was burning badly, and he felt it might have been amplified by the thoughts he was having, but they kept flowing. He couldn't beat them back with the weak reassurances he'd always used. But then he couldn't think anymore, blackness was consuming him, he was falling…

"_Give it to me_, Gregorovitch."

Here he was as Voldemort again. He was holding his wand out – before him was another wizard, held upside down and invisibly bound.

"I have it not, I have it no more! It was, many years ago, stolen from me!"

"Do no lie to Lord Voldemort, Gregorovitch. He knows… He always knows."

The man's dilated pupils seemed to grow larger within seconds, as if it would swallow Harry whole.

Then Harry was Gregorovitch, running down a hall carrying a lantern. He burst into a room, and there, on a windowsill, sat a young man with golden hair. The young man laughed, dodging a spell and slipping out the window like a shadow. The scenery blurred.

"_Who was the thief_, Gregorovitch?" He asked, suddenly Voldemort again.

"I do not know, I never knew, a young man – no – please – PLEASE!"

He saw a flash of green light before he found that he was himself again, his head throbbing painfully. He felt disoriented for several moments, and then he realized that somebody was talking to him.

"Harry, are you alright?" Lavi looked into his face in concern.

"Dream," Harry murmured, rubbing his temples.

"Don't lie!" Hermione cried, "I know it was your scar, Harry! You were looking again, weren't you?! Into Voldem-"

"Don't say it!" Ron yelled from inside the tent, "Don't!"

"I can't help it!" Harry exclaimed angrily, "You can't control what you dream of, can you? When I see those visions of Voldem-"

"Don't!" Ron yelled again, angrily this time, "Don't say his name!"

"Stop being ridiculous!" For the first time, Harry noticed that Kanda was by Allen's side several feet away. He thought it strange – he thought the other seemed more snappy than usual out of _concern_, out of all things… And then he _noticed_.

"Allen?"

The younger boy was sitting, breathing hard and clutching his face as if he'd been wounded. Kanda appeared almost out of the loop; he looked as if he didn't want to lower himself to appear as if he cared, and yet it was obvious he felt some sort of worry. Allen waved a hand, revealing his right eye, which seemed tired and pained.

"I'll survive, I think," He coughed then, and Harry knew he wasn't the only one who spotted the blood. Kanda reached down and roughly yanked the hand away from the boy's eye. Hermione paused in her anger to gasp in horror.

Allen's eye was activated, and the gears were turning wildly, almost glowing as they did so. It was out of control, almost, but what caught everyone's eye was the blood that spilled from the corners of the boy's eye – it was as if he were crying tears of blood. His scar, at the very top, near his eye, looked as if it had been just slightly torn open..

"What – what happened?"

"Harry had looked… out of it," Allen yanked his arm back, "I reached out to make sure he was okay when he didn't answer me. Then… then I saw it."

"Saw what?" Harry asked, though he felt a sinking suspicion.

"Your vision. I assume it was your Dark Lord – he was interrogating a man, and then he did something, and suddenly it was another man running through a hall. Something was stolen from him."

"Impossible," He whispered, though the proof was right here; he hadn't said a word about what the vision had been about, and the other had gotten it perfectly. What could have possibly caused this strange connection? Ever since the exorcists arrived, Allen had somehow been able to see _both_ visions that Harry had, though the first not so clearly. What made the other able to spy into a connection of souls?

"Come on," Kanda tugged the other exorcist up with surprising gentleness, "Go clean it up. Lie down."

Allen disappeared inside the tent with, surprisingly, no complaints. Harry got the impression that the other had been ashamed, if the lowered head and shuffled steps had been any clue, though he couldn't imagine why.

"Harry," He turned to see a stern Hermione staring at him, "Your visions. You've got to shut them out!"

He felt his anger rising again. He stood up, ignoring his continued throbbing.

"Look, Hermione, when I see into Volde-"

Ron let out a noise from inside, an angry coughing, and Harry felt vastly annoyed. He wasn't about to start cowering around the name when he never had before. So, louder, he continued,

"_Voldemort's _mind, it just comes! I can't stop it!" He ignored the sudden sense of foreboding he had. She looked at him for a long few moments before turning away coldly.

"Dinner is ready."

Then she was gone inside the tent. He thought he heard a soft, but tense, argument between his two friends inside, but it died down quickly. He sighed, running a hand over his face, and jumped violently when Lavi spoke from behind him. He cursed himself for missing someone's presence for the second time in the same hour.

"Tough crowd, huh?"

He turned and found the other his a somber expression, and nodded.

"Something pressing on your mind?" Lavi asked as he stepped up to the wizard's side and looked up at the dreary sky. He responded almost sarcastically.

"Nothing more than usual. You know, how do I pull this off? What's going to happen? Is it my fault? Will I be able to do it in the end? That kind of stuff."

He laughed dryly, but gave that up and sighed. It fell silent once more, and he suddenly felt as if he shouldn't have said anything. But he found himself wryly adding, "Isn't this the part where you tell me to do my best, or something?"

Lavi smiled sadly,

"Your best may not be enough," At the others startled expression, he elaborated, "Usually, that term is used when somebody fails. 'You tried your best, but the nation was destroyed anyway. Sorry.'"

A surprised silence passed, and the redhead shrugged,

"Everybody fails sometimes, but I guess you don't have that luxury. You have to try better than your best – give two hundred percent effort."

"Gee, thanks," Harry muttered, feeling even heavier than before.

"You know, I once read this quote from one of my books," His eyebrows rose, as he honestly hadn't thought of the other as a studious type, "'Some people are Hero's, and some people only clap as Hero's walk by.' Which one, I wonder, are you? Sometimes I think what you are truly afraid of is the responsibility – you keep worrying about what will happen if you fail, and I think you've lost sight of what you're trying to save."

He stared at the sky in melancholy, somehow at peace, but he knew that the feeling would pass soon. He honestly had no answer for his comrade. He couldn't imagine standing on the side of some road, clapping at somebody. But he couldn't imagine walking down the street, either, as other people clapped at him.

"I know what I'm trying to save."

That he did know, but when the exorcist stared at him like that, it made him unsure all over again. Another one of those 'I-know-something-you-don't' stares.

"Well then, I guess we can go eat if you're so sure," Lavi suddenly smiled, truly, "I'm starving, personally. How about you?"

Dinner was a very somber affair. Hermione had rationed the food they had left very carefully. That meant that Allen couldn't eat nearly as much as he wanted, or needed, to. Lavi had been the only one concerned about that, but he hadn't bothered bringing it up because they had no way of fixing the issue at the moment.

Ron was in a foul mood the whole time, and it was obvious on his face. Hermione wasn't much better, but her attitude was mostly towards Harry himself. That his friends were in such a mood dampened Harry's own. He tried to ignore the heavy atmosphere by talking to Lavi, seeing as he was the only one available. Allen contributed to the conversation every once in a while, but he was mostly quiet; his eye was back to normal, but the top of his scar was redder and more tender than normal. Kanda… well, he was more snappy than usual. He kept clenching and unclenching his teeth almost unconsciously. He broke a glass about halfway through the meal, and Harry could see it had truly been an accident. But that seemed to make the other even further on edge than before.

Harry was glad when dinner was over. By the time it was, the sun was starting to descend, and the night sky wasn't far off. No matter what he did, though, he always felt like he was being watched. He only felt safe inside the tent, and even then, it was a far off comfort.

On his watch, the feeling persisted. It was unnerving. And then, not ten minutes into his watch after dinner, he heard a branch break. It was startling, but he managed to stay still, as if he hadn't heard it. He told himself it had been an animal – what else could it be? But the feeling never wavered, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It was just as he was considering mentioning moving to a different spot that he heard it – a loud, ominous crack that split the air.

Suddenly there were figures on the edges of his vision.

Allen, Lavi, and Kanda were immediately standing outside, followed after a couple short moments by Hermione.

"What's going on?" She whispered, "The wards just fell, and – oh!"

Somebody stepped into the clearing then, and the light revealed them to be none other than the Death Eater, Yaxley.

"Well, well," Yaxley's lips pulled back in a malicious smile, "I admit, I hadn't expected you to go to Germany, of all places. But it doesn't matter now, does it?"

Then he waved to somewhere behind him with a truly ugly smirk directed at Harry's hostile expression,

"I'm not here to fight you, though, Potter, as exciting as that sounds. In fact, I've been instructed to leave a present."

From the trees emerged several hooded Death Eaters that had a joint levitation spell on an object that they pulled into sight. Lavi's breath caught at the sight. Allen's eyes went wide as he felt apprehension, and even fear, strike.

Seeing such extreme reactions, Harry looked at the object closely. He wasn't sure what it was – it appeared to be some kind of statue that rose almost as tall as the trees. It was some kind of creature, bent slightly backwards, it's stomach enlarged as if pregnant.

"Listen," Allen hissed frantically, "You have no idea what you're doing. If you let that thing loose, it'll kill you all too!"

Hermione looked around, frightened, her hand shaking as her gaze came to land on the statue in fear. Lavi was backing away slightly, pale faced, until he was at her side. He murmured quick instructions to gather everything in preparation to flee.

"You think so?" Yaxley responded in an almost bored manner, "I disagree."

"What is it?" Harry demanded, feeling his hands begin to sweat profusely – what could make the exorcists, of all people, _pale_? If anything, it seemed as if it should be the other way around. Other people should pale and shake at the mention of the _exorcists, _and yet they looked as if they were about to see a monster that even they feared. More than anything, he did not want to see something _they_ were afraid of.

"Why, it's an egg, Potter. The second of it's kind, in fact. I hear that the white haired one would know all about it – I was told he was there to see the first."

Indeed, Allen appeared to recognize it. But then, so did Lavi and Kanda.

"Release it," The command was almost drowned out by the shout Allen gave just before he shoved off, lunging towards the wizard with a determined glare. Lavi stepped into action immediately, using his hammer to swipe several of the attackers aside into unconsciousness as they leaped from behind trees. There were not many, thankfully.

Harry, uncertain and a little frightened, looked to see Kanda on his knees. He saw no blood, but that didn't stop his heart from jumping in alarm. He dove to the others side, touching his shoulder lightly,

"Are you alright?" He waited, but received no answer other than the swordsman's heavy breathing, "Kanda?"

When he still received no answer, he moved his head to stare up at the others face. For a moment, he sat in incomprehension, but then reality dawned on him. He couldn't call for another – the only one who wasn't doing something was himself.

Kanda's eyes were blank as he stared at the ground, almost as if he'd been stunned. But his usual midnight irises had turned a bright, molten gold. The whites of his eyes were slowly darkening as the edges rounded in black, creeping in from the outer edges like a disease.

Harry looked around, hoping for somebody to be there, somebody to help, and he found Hermione. She noticed his panic-stricken face immediately, and she almost dropped Ron, who was ashen and leaning on her heavily. By the time they reached him, Kanda's eyes were almost completely changed. When the witch saw what had Harry in such a state, she _did _drop Ron. He fell with a groan, but she was too busy holding her mouth in shock and horror. Kanda seemed to convulse. Then, the air around him _moved_, giving a pulse like a ripple through water, and his head snapped up with a predatory gleam.

Hermione screamed.

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A/N: ……

…..…………

……….……….. Yay.

Okay, two things. The first is that I have no idea if what happened with Miranda was, in fact, in Germany. I don't remember if the manga said so, but I don't have it to check. I only know that Miranda IS German, and though that doesn't mean what happened was in Germany, I put it there anyways. If the manga does say where it is, and I'm wrong, please tell me.

The second is that I put two lines in here from one of my favorite games. I can't remember how they go exactly, but I tried to remember as well as I could. Lavi says them both, and I suppose they're pretty obvious. (I also don't own them, btw.)

Anyone who can tell me what the lines are and what game they're from… well, I don't have anything to give, but take a guess anyways. (Hint. Game title is two words.)

I once thought it would've been fun to sneak a quote from different games and manga and books and whatnot into every chapter and seeing who could guess them. But with no internet, I'm pretty much unable to do that. There's one I've been dying to use for a few chapters now, but there's no situation to fit it in… maybe I'll figure out a way here soon…

Reviews, ideas, help, criticism, compliments, are all welcome! (Read: Encouraged) Have a nice week!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I felt the quality of this chapter went rather far down. I didn't have any idea how to go about it, and fighting scenes are rather not my forte. I ended up stopping for a while, before finishing the last two or pages, which I think is slightly better. Anyways, I'm really sorry about that!

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised. (Hope it was improved because there was a fair bit to improve upon in this one).

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Allen lunged at Yaxley with full intention of harm – whatever he could do to stop them from releasing another level four that he may not be able to defeat this time around. The one he'd fought before was the first ever recorded, and he had no idea if level four's were different from each or otherwise. Even if this one were exactly the same, he'd barely lived through his last encounter, and that was thanks to Lenalee's upgraded Innocence. Lenalee wasn't here now.

He dodged a bright light that passed so close to his face that it burned his retina's. Ignoring the bright red light stuck in his vision, he called for his Clown Crown Belt; long silver straps flung out and immediately grabbed the opposing wizard, flinging the other aside like a rag doll.

He reached the two who had been levitating the egg within seconds, and seconds more rendered them unconscious. Feeling apprehensive still, he barely paid attention when a familiar hammer came into his peripheral. He wondered faintly where Kanda was – usually the swordsman was always nearby. He ducked another spell and almost lost his balance when a scream split the air.

He spun on his heel, half expecting to see somebody with a horrendous wound and dreading it. What he found was a very unexpected sight, and he almost, almost, wished somebody had been injured instead.

Kanda was on the ground, on his knees, which was a particularly unsettling sight in and of itself, and clawing at his shoulders. His eyes found Allen's own, glowing a metallic gold, and they did not look away. Allen was able to watch the others jaw clench, eyes narrow, eyebrow twitch, all small signs that he'd learned quite well that meant the other was in pain. He watched the others face begin to distort, until it wasn't even human anymore, until it seemed stuck in the middle of this horrible transformation. For a moment, he feared Kanda would be stuck in the middle of this frightening mutation.

The Japanese tossed his head back, never letting out a sound, as if to do so was wrong and shameful. He clawed at his shoulders as his body began to spasm, his growing claws shredding the previously white shirt. Allen could hear a sound he had long become familiar with – the sounds of bones breaking and shattering. He had heard it enough times to know instantly what the crunching was, and he watch with growing morbid fascination as his teammate grew fur. From somewhere to his side, he heard a Death Eater whimper in terror,

"Nobody said anything about a werewolf! Can't – can't stick around for this!" With a pop, the man was gone.

When the transformation stopped, there was silence all around. Not the kind of silence where nobody was talking, but had the wind or animals or whatnot in the background. It was true silence. There were no birds, no wind, not a thing moved. The people in the clearing had all stopped breathing in horror and fear. All eyes were on the big ball of fur just feet from the tent. It probably would have remained so if not for the foreboding crack that broke the silence. For a moment, nobody seemed to realize what, exactly, had created the sound, but then realization hit Allen like a bag of bricks.

He turned very slowly, as if doing so would give the thing time to disappear. As if going slow would stop what he knew he would see. It did not, and so he turned, and there he found the akuma egg with a large, deep, crack down the center.

"Oh… oh shi-" Lavi's proclamation was drowned out when the egg's front was blasted outwards, followed by a burst of malevolent energy. Fingers appeared, grasping the jagged edges, hulling a very familiar sight from the depths of it's prison.

A Level Four touched ground, looked exactly the same as it's predecessor, and no doubt as powerful. Allen's dread was completely swallowed by his disgust and horror as his cursed eye came to life with a fever. It hurt, having been tender from his strange episode earlier that day, but the pain was ignored. He felt the urge to empty his stomach, just as he did the very first time he'd laid his eyes on one of these creatures.

"Hello."

Hermione was frozen to her spot, feeling as if the saying 'between a rock and a hard place' was horribly inadequate for what she was feeling at the moment. She was afraid. Frightened didn't seem to do her feeling justice. The creature before her that had set the exorcists so on edge felt evil. It gave of a constant vibe of power – power she probably couldn't even begin to comprehend. She wasn't even attuned to that kind of thing, but she felt it keenly. In her face, in her chest, in her bones and blood and heart. It was no wonder that the mere threat of this thing could cause Lavi's voice to shakes just slightly when he was telling her to gather everything in preparation to run.

It's head turned to look at the closest person to it, which happened to be a Death Eater that seemed fairly young, and it was one she didn't outright recognize. It vanished from her sight as if it had never been there in the first place. It reappeared behind the Death Eater so quickly that for a moment it didn't even occur to her that it hadn't been there in the first place.

"I said hello," It said in it's childlike voice. It's target didn't move, his eyes staring straight ahead in absolute fear and shock. When he failed to reply, Hermione watched as the Level Four seemed to lay a hand on the man's shoulder, only for him to suddenly be blown forward, colliding with a tree. He hit with a sickening crunch and landed on the ground heavily, laying at such an awkward angle that she was positive he was dead. The tree sway dangerously before falling backwards, it's own landing shaking the ground.

Her own shaking knees hadn't been able to take it and she fell to the grass. Ron was already there, beside her, and she realized she was shaking so much that she could hardly see straight.

"Oh!" The akuma turned to look at everyone else, smiling, "I forgot how weak humans are. They're so fragile! But the Earl says the Exorcists would be fun to play with."

It disappeared again, reappearing beside Lavi,

"Will _you_ play with me?"

"Sorry," His voice still shook slightly, but even now he kept his personality, "I'm afraid I like living just a little too much to play with you."

On one hand, Hermione admired the other for still managing to keep up his usual mouthy manners, but on the other hand, she was horrified. How could he act even remotely carefree? Shouldn't he be watching his life flash before his eyes or something? She could remember what had happened to the Black Order's old base, though she hadn't actually looked when they visited hours before. She didn't know the extent, but if it was bad enough that it was unusable as a base, it had to be near demolished. She didn't think she could scream or run, no matter how much she wanted to do both. How in the bloody _world_ was the exorcists suppose to fight this?

Not far away, she heard Harry retch. She couldn't bring herself to look, fearing to take her eyes from this monster before her.

"You're no fun," The akuma said, it's voice falling flat.

"Not to you, though generally I'm a pretty fun guy," Lavi agreed. He brought his hammer around, using the full force of his momentum and his physical strength to slam it in it's face. It took a startled step back before grabbing the long handle.

Hermione saw his grimace seconds before he went flying through the air.

"Lavi!" She screamed, though in all honesty it came out as more of a high pitched whisper, fearing watching his body break and die like the previous man had. He was only human, no matter how other worldly he seemed, he had to be.

The Akuma's eyes found hers, and she forgot how to breath.

Allen suddenly body slammed into it's side, and it was as if that was the sign that it was alright to panic. Death Eater's began to apparate away, disappearing one after another. Only a very small handful remained, and Yaxley was among them. They all looked absolutely horrified, but they also held a grim determination. They turned toward Hermione, and she instantly knew what their plan was.

"Hermione," Harry crawled to her side, and he was almost as shaky as she was.

"Harry, look!" She whispered urgently, "The Death Eater's, they think they can come after us now!"

"And they can," He winced, pulling out his wand as the group advanced very carefully.

"Bloody sneaky," Ron hissed, cradling his arm, "Distracting the exorcists like that."

"It'd be brilliant," Harry replied, "if they weren't so likely to die themselves."

He threw up a barrier of Protego just as the first spells were fired. He grabbed her arm, pulling himself up at the same time as her. She bent down, hurriedly pulling Ron up by his good arm, ignoring his ashen face and racking her brains for something for her to do. Her mind, though, was reluctant to work now, under so much stress. She had a Level Four on one hand, Death Eater's on another…

She gasped.

She spun around, wondering how she could have possibly forgotten something so _dire_ enough to turn their _backs_ on it.

Kanda was still there, still laying down, but now his head was laying on the ground; he appeared for all the world exhausted. His golden eyes were distant. He blended in with the night so well that she thought she might not be able to even tell him apart from the area around him if his massive back didn't move with each breath he took. It made his eyes even more intimidating – two animalistic eyes staring out from the darkness.

An explosion rocked the earth, sending her from her feet yet again. For a split second, she feared the wolf would attack her, and yet there was no change at all in his expression or body language. Harry was yelling spells from behind her, and Ron let out a few too, but she couldn't bring herself to turn back around. It was as if she were mesmerized. It was because of her staring that she saw the wolf's eyes suddenly focus and his body jerk forward.

She shrieked when he lunged.

To her shock, Kanda did not attack her, but instead jumped right over her head. Time seemed to slow in that instant, and she saw the great black body of fur pass over her head. She could have sworn she saw him look at her in annoyance, just like he use to, but all she saw was incomprehension, as if he hardly even knew what he was doing.

Then time sped up again and she turned to see what was going on.

Kanda had jumped over her head and connected with the Level Four that had been there. She had no idea it had been there, and she felt Goosebumps thinking about how close it had just been and she _hadn't even known it_. He was huge as a wolf – if they were to stand side by side, with him on all fours, she was certain that he would reach her waist, at least. His powerful muscles bulged as he tried to tear the Akuma apart.

The Akuma screamed, though she wasn't sure whether it was in pain, anger, or something else. It's fist connected with the side of Kanda's head, but the wolf only let out a bark-growl, his hind legs digging into it's chest. He pushed, yanking his head back at the same time, and there was a dull screech, like nails on a chalkboard, before a blow landed on his side and he was flung backwards.

She was dismayed to see there wasn't even a scratch on the akuma, even after all that.

"What are you, stupid?!" Lavi yelled, emerging from behind a few trees, a thin trail of blood falling down this side of his cheek from under his hair, "You can't beat it that way!"

Hermione felt like yelling at him for his own stupidity – of course Kanda couldn't understand. He was a werewolf, he wouldn't understand a word they said unless it was a scream! Most of it was swallowed by her crushing relief at seeing that he was still alive, relatively unhurt, though how that was possible was escaping her at the moment.

"Lavi!" Allen yelled, throwing to him a small hammer that had shrunk. The red headed exorcist caught it with a wry grin.

"Hermione!" Harry whispered urgently. She turned to see his own pale face staring off to the side, and she followed his line of sight to see what he found so urgent.

The remaining Death Eater's were trying to sneak up on Kanda, who was rising very slowly. Yaxley raised his wand, face terrified, and started to mouth a spell.

"_Protego_!"

The spell bounced off and hit another wizard, who fell to the ground, dead from the horrendous gash that appeared across his chest, having gouged out his chest cavity. Kanda's head turned to find his attackers, and snarled. They backed away slowly, eyes wide. His eyes turned back to the Akuma, but strangely, he stumbled slightly when he took a step forward.

Hermione held her breath when she saw the briefest of signs appeared above the furred chest. It flickered several times before it lit up slowly but surely. She didn't recognize the symbol, for that is what it appeared to be, but it glowed white-hot inches before his chest. It just floated there, yet it moved when he did, never moving from that spot.

"What _is_ that?" Ron exclaimed.

"I – I don't know," She murmured, "That's not normal. It's not from the werewolf curse, so it's gotta be something that was already there."

"But what-"

Allen flew by them in a rush of silver, and instead of slamming through one tree and falling to the ground, he was slammed through several. Tree after tree splintered and fell, and she gasped in worry. It was, she knew, a fact that for a normal person that kind of treatment would probably mean a broken body. They all three turned to see the battle just as Kanda rushed by them again, lunging not for the Akuma but instead from a spot several feet away.

Lavi jumped out of the creatures reach and suddenly glowing symbols erupted from all around him, surrounding him. She didn't recognize them for anything other than Japanese.

"Hi ban!" He shouted, and his hammer slammed into one of the huge glowing symbols. The Golden Trio watched in awe as a giant dragon of fire erupted from it, roaring and twisting in the air before heading straight for the Akuma. She recognized it as the one she'd glimpsed at the Ministry, but much larger. The heat was intense, and she had never even seen magic similar.

"Ha ha ha!" It laughed, it's voice high pitched, before dodging the inferno. The dragon twisted back around lunged again.

Hermione jumped when a hand clamped on her shoulder, but it was only Allen. He smiled at them,

"You need to get under cover somewhere," He stood straighter, "Somewhere safe."

"Like where?" Ron demanded, "There's no where!"

"Protective spells, then," Allen replied impatiently, "But you can't just sit there, you'll get caught up in the damage. Please?"

"Maybe we should just apparate away from here?" She suggested nervously, hopefully, "I can take _all _us someplace further away, and then-"

"Hermione," Allen smiled at her, and she almost felt as though he were disappointed in her, "There's a town less than ten minutes away. Where do you think the first place it will go is?"

Harry leaned forward, eyes wide,

"Hey, is that-"

"Please hurry up," The white haired boy interrupted. He pushed by them, and as he did so, he reached to his left arm as it glowed. Hermione watched as he appeared to grasp his wrist – and then pull until his left arm turned to light and reshaped itself. Within a couple seconds, he was holding an overly large sword in his right hand, and his left arm was completely gone.

"What was _that_?" Ron wondered, staring as the exorcist jumped into battle.

"Come on, spells, spells!" She murmured, racking her brains for every protective spell she knew. She began to cast them, one after another, after they had shuffled into the trees not far away. Then she bit her lip, watching the fight as well as she could.

Kanda was blasted backwards, landing awkwardly. She didn't hear the snap, but when he stood, his upper right paw was at an impossible angle. Horrified, she shook her head. The more she saw of this impossible fight, the more she didn't understand. It wasn't even just the impossible power behind it – it was also the expectations, the responsibility, the _lives_ that fueled this whole thing. How many years must be necessary in order to fight and react like they did? How many people did they see die? How many Akuma were out there, and what must the people who created them be like?

The Akuma laughed again, rearing back and it's arm suddenly shaped into what looked like a machine gun – the exorcists barely dodged out of the way of the first wave of bullets. It swung around, aiming for Allen, who immediately covered himself as well as he could, and when it realized it wasn't getting through the body armor so easily, it switched it's sights to Lavi.

The red head's eye constricted as he stared, and was only aware of a very big, black shape suddenly whisking him away. As soon as he landed on solid ground again, he looked back. The wolf still didn't seem like it was quite in it's right mind, but it had taken several bullets for him. Kanda had to be in there somewhere.

A loud yell of warning caused him to whip around again.

The Level Four was gathering it's power, and he remembered vividly what would happen next. It's energy condensed, and he cried out a warning of his own that was swallowed up by the sonic boom-level sound that erupted. It was like a nuclear bomb – silence for a second, followed by a noise of such proportions that he thought he might've lost hearing in one ear. Then, chaos.

The wind ripped through the trees, sending debris everywhere. Small twigs become flying daggers. Rocks suddenly had the force of a small bullet. Trees became uprooted, flying into other trees and knocking them airborne too. And above all of it was the sound of a demented creature laughing in glee.

When Hermione lifted her head, she found she had a splitting headache. She reached for the side of her head instinctively, like a normal person would when they found pain there, and jerked in surprise when she found blood on her fingertips. She found a cut along her temple, extending into her hair that was about the length of her pointer finger. It bled profusely, and she could feel her heart beat through it.

She looked around after making sure she didn't have any broken bones, trying to recall what had happened through the chaos before she'd briefly lost consciousness, and gasped.

She was on the edge of the disaster zone – but around the Akuma, there was about a thirty feet radius of nothing but dirt. It was a crater now, all the trees and grass and plants having been whisked away in the explosion. She was up against a tree, and there was another tree that had fallen back and rested against the first just above her head. She had nearly been crushed. In fact, it was probably the feeble protective spells that had saved her, one or another, before they had been demolished. Looking around found similar chaos, trees strewn everywhere, and she couldn't see anybody. Harry and Ron weren't by her side anymore, and without a tree directly behind them like she had had, they'd probably been blown away. She hoped that they hadn't been crushed to death, and felt fear at the thought.

The Akuma chuckled, as if it found all the destruction horribly amusing,

"It was fun playing with you, Al-len Wal-ker," It teased. When it stepped to the side, she barely stifled a gasp. Allen was there, laying against the side of the crater, prone and barely conscious. His sword lay several feet away with the akuma in between.

It lifted him by the neck, still wearing it's creepy smile.

"The Earl will be glad you're gone. Maybe I'll even be rewarded?"

Allen almost seemed to smile, albeit it was pained and tired.

"I'm not ready to die yet. I made a promise," he held out his hand, and Hermione's eyes widened when she saw the sword jerk on the ground. The Akuma didn't notice,

"A promise?" It asked, "That's just too bad… to you're exorcist friends? Well, you can tell them how sorry you are in the next life."

"To my friends," Allen replied, "To Mana. To the Akuma. And to Harry and his friends too. I said I would protect them from Akuma like you, and that's what I will do."

The sword jumped from the ground and flew toward the pair, imbedding itself in the Akuma's back and Allen's stomach.

Hermione held her mouth as she felt her eyes burn. She could hardly believe it – he had just stabbed himself? What kind of resolution and determination could cause a boy so young to do something so self sacrificing without even a split second of hesitation? She had always felt awkwardly about the exorcists because she had never seemed to be able to make up her mine about what to think at all. But she had never wished for their deaths. The still could not understand what being an exorcist was, but she felt that this was a very large part of it.

"How stupid!" The akuma screamed, it's pain apparent, "You're just wasting your life, you've stabbed yourself too!"

"Not quite," Allen smiled slightly more, much to her confusion, "This is an exorcist blade. It's harmless to normal humans, because it's only able to harm and cleanse Akuma and Noah."

For a moment she felt relief. She instantly relaxed, just a little, feeling almost victorious despite the fact that she wasn't the one who seemed to have landed a fatal blow. The other would live, and that's all that matter for several precious seconds. But both feelings began to slip away when something on the white haired exorcists face changed. She had a hard time seeing it, because her vision was partly blocked and it was a ways away, but she understood that the look on his face changed to one of horror, confusion, and pain.

Then, he began to scream.

Never before had she heard a human being in so much pain. She had heard people under the influence of the crutacious curse before, had endured it herself, and yet it seemed almost childlike compared to this torture. Combined with her silent admiration that she had felt for a boy who had been fighting in a war like them, and had been for a long time, and she wasn't so sure she would ever be able to erase this feeling of horror and helplessness.

Panic rose up. She wished he didn't have to suffer so; if he _must_ lay down his life, why couldn't it have been peaceful? Hadn't he said it shouldn't hurt normal people? He'd said it should only hurt Akuma and Noah. There was absolutely no reason for him to lie, particularly if he'd known this would happen, which hinted he _hadn't_ known. But then, he wasn't an Akuma – she had seen and heard enough to know after she'd been with him so long.

Tears spilled as the pained scream continued, and she had no idea what to do. There was not one weapon at her disposal to use, none that would harm it. Though, even if she did, what would it matter? It was not the Akuma that was causing him pain. It was so loud, so hurt. She thought she could hear his throat taring, his voice cracking, his back arching against the sword as if subconsciously trying to drive it out. His hands clutched his head, and she thought she saw blood trailing thinly from his fingertips. It _hurt_ to listen, it hurt even worse that that was _all_ she could do.

Suddenly the scream stopped; it was so sudden it took a moment to realize it was silent once more. She wiped her tears trying to see what was going on, dreading what she would find. She prayed that it was not his dead body she would see, though that was the first route her mind took in wondering what had caused the sudden silence. It had sounded cut off, as if he had been unable to continue.

Allen was still alive, but setting her sights on him made Goosebumps rise, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Something about him screamed 'dangerous' almost as loud as he'd been screaming moments before. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that made her frightened. It was like staring a dragon in the face, and yet she though that she'd might rather take the dragon instead.

His hands clamped on either side of the Akuma's head. His disheveled hair covered his eyes, but she saw his mouth move. She couldn't hear what it was he said, could only stare and try to read his lips. She wasn't able to gather anything other than whatever he said was three syllables. Then the Akuma screamed.

"You – Noa-"

It sounded horrified, angry, frightened, but it was cut off by a long sword sticking out of it's shoulder. The blade imbedded itself into the dirt next to Allen's head, through the Akuma's shoulder blade. Allen reached around, grasping the hilt of his own sword, and pulling it out. He swung it to the side, and the akuma screeched in pain as it was nearly sliced in two. Kanda emerged from the trees, stumbling on all four legs, before collapsing.

The Level Four exploded just before it hit the ground.

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A/N: Anyways, moving along, we'll have a couple chapters of quiet doings (in which, things settle down somewhat, I think). Then it'll start into a whole 'nother arc that I've been half looking forwards to. Yay. Though I have to wonder:

What are your thoughts on Ron and Hermione? (I know there are a lot of people out there who either extremely dislike one/both, don't care, or are a fan of one/both. Just wondering.)

And from the question I asked last chapter about the quotes, I'd like to thank Lunar Hikari and A scribble-chan for guessing, though they were wrong. (Though I'm told that both actually are used in Final Fantasy, I wouldn't know, because I haven't played it). It's from a RPG called Jade Empire, and it is awesome, particularly if you like controlling your ending through your dialog choices, long games, and Asian style games. It's great. Check it out if you haven't played it!

Reviews, as always, are very welcome, and encouraged, and I hope everyone is enjoying themselves!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I am surprised. Small things are going on, not really anything huge, but I actually kinda of liked this chapter. Huh. Another that pretty much wrote itself. Hopefully others agree! Anyways, read on!

_Edit:_ This chapter has been edited and revised.

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Everything around him was dark. It was the first thing he noticed, and when he first found himself conscious again, it was so dark he wasn't even sure he had his eyes open. Then, slowly, he could see moonlight drifting through the cracks above him, which was when he noticed that he was trapped.

It hurt to move, and he worried he'd broken something. His hands felt numb, his head was pounding, and he was slightly frightened. The last thing he remembered was being blown away, quite literally, and he was surrounded by trees and debris. He hesitated to try to move anything, but as the seconds ticked by, he found himself impatient.

Harry pushed against one of the topmost trees he could reach through the cracks, and felt relief when he found it was just a large branch. He heaved it aside awkwardly and tried to wiggle through, pushing anything else out of his way as well as he could.

As it was, he got his head and most of his shoulders into the free air, but found himself stuck. He couldn't get any further, and it hurt to try. His hands, which had been numb and heavy as lead, itched for his wand, but he couldn't find it. It wasn't in his pocket, and if it was near, he certainly couldn't see it, inside his prison or out.

From a ways to his right came the sound of something heavy shifting from under the mess of nature. Seconds later, a thick tree he wasn't even sure he could reach both arms around was flung to the side, the sound of it's landing jarring in the quiet night. Lavi poked his head up, his enlarged hammer shrinking, his expression dazed.

The red head caught sight of him surprisingly quickly, and gave a lazy grin,

"Oi, peek-a-boo to you too, Harry," Lavi pushed himself out of his small area and stood atop another tree, "Or are you just stuck?"

"Because I would sit here like this if I weren't," Harry replied, hiding his annoyance under his sarcasm.

"Touchy, touchy," The exorcist began hopping tree to tree until he reached the wizards side, "Sit still, I got this."

Lavi had to push quite hard to budge the topmost tree that was holding the others down. Harry worried for the other – he didn't know much about wounds, but he wouldn't be surprised if the other had some kind of concussion, what with the briefly dazed and dizzy looks he'd get. Working so hard couldn't be good if he did, but since he did need out and he couldn't help himself, he didn't say anything. He was really only lucky that none of the trees had actually landed on him, or put much weight on him.

When he finally managed to wriggle out of the wreckage, he took a deep breath despite the ache it caused his ribs. He knew by the feeling that he had to be bruised pretty badly, and as he started to unsteadily heave himself up, he caught sight of his hand. His left hand, which had his last two fingers twisted at a very odd angle. As if waiting until it was seen, his dislocated fingers gave several stabs of pain, and he felt sick as he stared.

"Oh," He glanced and found the other staring as well, "Well, that can't be good. Uh, here."

When he was motioned to put forth his hand, he hesitated, and before he had even the chance to prepare himself, they had been snapped back into place. He gave a cry of pain and disbelief, cradling them to his chest,

"Sorry man, it had to be done," Lavi shrugged apologetically, "Else, longer you take to put them back, the worse it gets. Take too long, and they won't ever work the same again."

"Still, _warning_," He hissed, suddenly feeling sympathetic to Ron, when his arm had needed to be set just earlier that day, "Is that so hard to ask?"

"But it's like a band aid. Do it slow and it hurts more. Do it fast, without looking, and it doesn't hurt quite as bad."

He had a hard time imagining Lavi with a band aid, wincing at the prospect of taking it off. But the more he thought about it, the more the idea seemed more likely, until he was positive that on the inside, Lavi was just a big baby.

"Anything else? 'Cause, we should find the others."

"Don't think so," He muttered, silently glaring before looking around, "Ron and Hermione were right by me, they should be around here."

Feeling suddenly anxious and worried, he looked around a little closer, hoping that his friends was alright. It was too dark to see all that well. What if one of them hadn't been so lucky and had, in fact, been buried under the full weight of a tree or more?

"We need to find them."

"'Course," Lavi nodded slightly before freezing and them paling a little, though it was hard to notice by moonlight, "Unless, of course, we're standing on 'em?"

The thought made Harry internally panic, and he began looking around for a safe place to stand. Unfortunately, the only space of clear land was a ways away, and as he hopped to it, he prayed he wasn't jumping on his friends. Just as he reached the last spot, something under him gave a crunch, and he hurriedly jumped away, looking back in near panic.

There was a hand sticking out of the debris from which he'd just jumped from, and he had stepped on a branch that had crushed the others wrist. The hand didn't move or give any signs of life, and he found himself staring, waiting for it to move. When Lavi landed next to him, he pointed a little shakily.

Lavi immediately went for the area, and seconds after, Harry began to help push the branches and whatnot out of the way the best he could, despite his horribly sore fingers. When finally he found a face, the moonlight shone on it and revealed not Ron or Hermione, but Yaxley. The Death Eater's face was pale and the side of his head was smashed in. He could see the white of his skull through the blood that suddenly seemed everywhere, and his eyes were wide and positioned just right, until he swore that even in death, Harry was being cursed.

He swung away and instantly began to retch, emptying his stomach nearby. The smell was horrible and the whole ordeal was disgusting, and even after he'd spilled everything he had he kept heaving, as all he could see in his mind was the gore behind him. Lavi moved behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. The exorcist didn't say a word, comforting or insulting either way, and simply rubbed his back until he was calm enough to sit down without heaving. He breathed hard and spat to the side several times in order to get the foul taste out of his mouth. It was a rather futile effort.

Silence reigned for several moments before he spoke, his voice rough and heavy.

"Shouldn't you… What about the Level Four?" He was embarrassed to notice his voice cracked.

"It's dead," Lavi replied, and elaborated at the imploring stare, "It's silent. No destruction, see? I'm rather hoping that Allen and Kanda are still alive, and it wouldn't leave unless they were dead. It's possible one of them managed to finish it off. And if not, well, no use rushing to our deaths."

Because his head hurt and he was still feeling queasy, Harry decided not to think and simply revel in the cool air against his face. When they heard a voice calling out, though it was muffled heavily, Lavi jumped toward the sound after making quick cutting motions toward him.

The moment was tense as Harry waited to see whether it was one of his friends or a Death Eater. When Ron's head emerged, gasping and breathing hard, he couldn't deny the tiny, relieved smile that overcame his face.

Lavi helped the other up and out, though he was practically carrying the wizard because of the others wounded and broken arm. Their trek over was a little rough, and they almost slipped twice, but when they finally stood before him, Ron noticed the puddle of sick a ways away and turned back toward his friend,

"Alright, Harry?"

He didn't feel like talking much, so Harry just nodded. When he saw his friends gaze settling dangerously close to where the dead body was, he forced himself to stand and speak anyway,

"Let's go and see if anyone is back near the tent."

"What about Hermione?" Ron asked, looking around worriedly, "She's gotta be under here somewhere. What if she's hurt?"

"Maybe she didn't get blown far," Lavi suggested, "Just, let's get everyone to one spot, see who's missing, and work from there."

The Weasly first appeared as if he'd argue, but then he winced and nodded reluctantly. All three walked close together, traveling along the clear path and only climbing when there was no other alternative. It was tiring, and at the late hour it was an unwelcome walk. When finally they reached the area they had previously set up camp, the wizards were startled to find the crater. In the middle was what appeared to be an unconscious Allen, Kanda was a ways off, and Hermione was standing there at the side in a near panic.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled, causing the other two to wince at his volume. The witch turned and seemed to be near tears,

"Ron! Harry, Lavi!" She cried as she hurried over, "You're okay!"

"What happened?" Lavi motioned toward the scene, ignoring his first urge to start cursing and running around in circles in worry. He stood straighter and seemed to fall into 'serious mode' again.

"I – I don't know," She almost seemed ashamed, but he couldn't blame her, "I… I saw Allen stab the Akuma with that sword of his, but he stabbed himself at the same time, and shouldn't it hurt him?"

Harry blinked. The answer seemed rather obvious to him, seeing as stabbing anybody with anything should result in some sort of wound, but Lavi shook his head,

"No. His sword is special, it's made to cleanse Akuma. It only does damage to them, slice it through you or me and it just goes right through, no harm done. Why?"

"Well," She bit her lower lip nervously, tugging at a strand of her hair, "When he stabbed them both, he said it wouldn't hurt him… but it did."

Harry wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, even though her words were clear. He was feeling lost and tired, and his stomach was still sensitive. He understood the part about the sword only cleansing the Akuma, but then why would it hurt Allen? He felt then, as he watched Lavi's own tired eyes sharpen into diamond, that there was something afoot here he wasn't aware of.

"What?" Lavi barked, his voice making the girl jump, "It hurt him?"

"Y-Yes! He, he was fine at first, but then all of a sudden, he started _screaming_," She looked miserable, like she would start to cry any second, "It was horrible, I'll never forget it. It was worse than I've ever heard in my life!"

"And then what?"

"Then… I don't know. He stopped screaming, and it was like all of a sudden it wasn't hurting him anymore. He just… ripped it out and then Kanda's sword stabbed it and he seemed to cut it and I don't know what happened!"

"But it's dead now, right?" Ron asked nervously as he surveyed the area, "Dead and gone?"

"Yes," Her tone was defeated and exhausted, "It's gone, I saw it explode. But, what happened? How come the sword hurt Allen?"

Lavi didn't answer as he stared at the ground with a look on his face none of them had seen before. Harry recognized it. He'd seen it on several Slytherins faces. It was the expression of someone that was so coldly calculating that he lost his breath. Out of all the expressions he could think of, _that_ was the one he would have been least likely to see on the others face. When he didn't speak for several moments, Hermione did again, softly,

"Noah," At his sharp look, she asked, "Could it hurt a Noah?"

"What are you insinuating?" Lavi demanded, eyes narrowed. He did not look or sound like the easy-going exorcist that was so fun to get along with.

"Well, the Akuma, before it died, it sounded at if that's what it said," she hesitated before her voice began to grow stronger as she talked, "It that why the Vatican doesn't like Allen? Is he related to a Noah, or something like that? Is he dangerous?"

"Dangerous?" He laughed, but it sounded forced, "Allen? That kid?"

His eyes gained a far off look as if remembering something. Then he smiled slightly,

"Actually, he's one of the most dangerous people I know. Crazy strong, that one. But he wouldn't hurt you, if that's what you're worried about. Now excuse me while I go see what he's gone and done to himself this time."

Lavi moved away quickly, leaving the other three behind him to watch. After a moment, Hermione whispered,

"He never answered my question."

Nobody had anything to say, and so they stood there amongst each other, feeling lost and alone and afraid of the world that wanted them dead so badly. They only had each other, there was no one else. No one but the exorcists. For some reason, the thought was almost a comfort to Harry, and eventually he was the first to make a move away. He hesitated to go to where Kanda lay, the wolf's breathing uneven and heavy. He worried about that, but he didn't want to unintentionally make himself a target. He still didn't know just how aware of his surroundings Kanda was.

His friends followed them to where Lavi knelt over Allen, checking the boys pulse and other small things, such as for concussions.

"Our tent was destroyed," Hermione murmured, though her voice seemed much louder in the relative calm and silence, "All we have are the things I kept in my bag, and although your things are in it… what are we going to do now?"

Both Harry and Ron looked around in surprise and found that their tent really had been destroyed; it lay in a heap amongst the trees, it's poles broken and the canvas ripped.

"Soldier it out. Nothing new for us, though we always had sleeping bags before. We'll stay here until the morning, make sure we have everything, then we'll move on," Before the girl could comment, Lavi added in what seemed to be a forceful cheer, "We'll decide when the decision comes, 'Mione."

"My wand too," Harry admitted softly, "I couldn't find it before. I think it's in the trees near where I was stuck."

Ron, as if struck by the possibility, immediately began looking for his own wand, and when he found it, he gave a great sigh of relief. He pulled it out and called a Lumos spell, and the tip instantly lit up enough to give a fair amount of light to the dark. Hermione followed his example a little skittishly. She couldn't help but look around as if she expected something to jump out at them.

"Alright. You and I will do that now. Can you borrow somebody's wand for now, for the light?" Lavi glanced between them, and noticed the reluctance, "Or is that impossible?"

"Wands don't work very well for others, but it's possible," Hermione explained, "Here. Take care of it."

She handed hers to Harry, who took it with a small, grateful smile.

"Why can't we just come too? It'll be easier with all of us," Ron suggested. Harry, though, saw in his minds eye Yaxley's face and smashed head, and violently denied his friends the experience.

"No, it's okay. Besides, you need to watch out for Allen and Kanda," He shook his head, "It probably won't take too long anyway."

Hermione sent him a stare that clearly said she disagreed. A wand would be so easy to mistake for a broken branch, that it could take quite a while. She said nothing, however, and instead gave a shallow nod.

"Come on," Lavi motioned for him to hurry, "And, don't mess with Allen just yet, I want to look him over before you do anything."

Was it Harry's imagination, or did she seem almost _relieved_? Her shoulders slumped slightly, and she face seemed to smooth out. She seemed content to stay where she was, several feet away.

Lavi lead the way not back toward where they had came from, but instead toward Kanda. As they approached, golden eyes opened and watched them wearily. Lavi knelt down by his friends side, his hand resting on the black mane of fur,

"We'll be back soon, okay Yuu? Just hang tight," The black wolf growled softly and the red head grinned, "Even as a wolf you're grouchy. Rest. We'll be back."

Then Harry followed the other through the trees until they reached the area he'd been buried.

They worked quietly, and the search was rather gruesome. Harry came across another body at one point, of another young man whose head had been nearly severed. He had almost started heaving again at the sight, and when he finally went back to work, determination renewed to hurry and get it over with, he dreaded every piece of tree he pushed aside. He never knew what he would find. He didn't know how many, if any, bodies Lavi found but the other never made any suspicious noise. He suspected that the other had, in fact, found one or two. The exorcists face was pale and he held a near constant grimace the whole time.

Thankfully, it had taken no less than half and hour, and no more than one hour, to find his wand. He was lucky it hadn't been crushed or cracked. When he held it in his hand again, he felt a whole load better, and he announced his discovery to his partner who appeared extremely relieved,

"Oh, goody," Lavi breathed, "Okay. Yay. Ugh."

"You alright?" Harry questioned in concern, eying the others obviously harsh breathing and labored movements.

"_No_," came the red head's soft moan, "I want to go lay down. Now."

Alarmed that the other would actually admit something was wrong, he started for his side. He helped support the exorcist all the way back, though they did trip once and Harry swore he'd sprained his ankle.

Their return was quiet, and when they reached the new clearing, Hermione noticed something was wrong quickly enough. She helped them get over to by Allen, where they lowered Lavi down to lay beside his friend. She still seemed to avoid being as close to Allen as possible. The boy was nearly unconscious, and breathing hard. His face kept a constant wince.

"What happened?" She asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know. We found my wand, and he seemed… I don't know," Harry struggled to find a word to describe the other, "In pain, I guess, and when I asked if he was okay, he said no. I helped him back here and he just seemed to get worse."

Ron, who had been almost asleep when they arrived, shifted closer and frowned drowsily,

"No kidding," He snorted, "He just fought for his life, he's gotta be bloody sore."

Then Hermione and Harry stilled as the words sunk in. Of course, Harry thought with startling annoyance, _of course_. Didn't they see Lavi shoved through _trees_ and whatnot? By the creature that had blasted a Death Eater hard enough to take down a tree, just by gently laying a hand on their shoulder, no less.

"I need to check him over and make sure he's alright," Hermione murmured softly, looking the other over with worry clear on her face, "He said to wait to look over Allen, but I don't think he's in good enough condition."

She reached for the others shirt and hesitated. She blushed and Ron looked away, suddenly not quite as tired anymore, and Harry asked,

"Do you want me to do it?"

"Please?" She looked up at him through her eyelashes. Somewhat amused, the Boy-Who-Lived carefully undid the top of the Chinese style shirt and, with Hermione's help, managed to get it off of the prone body it had been on. As they laid the other back down, Hermione gasped.

Lavi's ribs were black and blue, some of the darkest bruises any of them had ever seen. There were plenty of small scratches, but there were also several gashes. One was around the length of his forearm, just under his ribs on his right side. His left collar bone was obviously broken, as there was a lump and horrible bruising. His arms were littered in scratches and he had his left arm held in such a way that Harry figured there was something wrong with that too. The exorcists hands were cut up as well – but that, he was guiltily sure that had been gained looking for his wand.

"And he went lifting trees like that?!" Ron hissed, eyes drifting from the bloodied face to the damaged chest.

"No wonder it seemed like he had such a hard time breathing," Harry clenched his teeth, trying to ignore his faint guilt and concern. How could he have not figured the other was hurt, considering all the worry and disbelief he'd expressed over seeing the other get pummeled, only to get right back up again? Just because he'd gotten up again didn't mean he hadn't done so unscathed.

"Why would he do that when he's this injured?" Hermione whispered softly, "He shouldn't be able to hardly move through the pain if he's got broken ribs, and a broken collar bone makes it nearly impossible to use the arm it's connected to… and yet…"

Lavi suddenly let out a breathy laugh, cracking open his one good eye that had a split in his eyebrow,

"Don't make faces like that. As flattered as I am, I'll live, don't worry."

"You could have saved yourself the trouble," Harry replied, "Just let us look for it or something."

Lavi was quiet for a moment, staring at him, before he shut his eye and said,

"When I don't have my hammer, my Innocence, I feel… Well, I feel rather anxious and perhaps a little frightened too. Without it, I can't defend myself from Akuma. When the Level Four attacked the headquarters, I didn't have it then. I felt horrible," He cracked his eye open again, giving a wry grin, "I figured your wands are pretty much the same for you as my hammer is to me. And I wasn't about to let you go search for it alone in case an Akuma or something showed up. Those Death Eaters could have come back to see what happened."

Silence fell, and Harry wallowed in this gratification and sudden familiarity he felt. He felt a connection, then, and he even felt fondness. It all swirled in his chest and rested there. Hermione was the first to recover. She hesitantly helped the other sit up so she could begin to wrap his wounds as best as she could. When the silence failed to cover up the ragged breathing of those around her and she couldn't take it anymore, she tried to start a conversation,

"So… why didn't you have your innocence when the Level Four attacked before?"

"Eh?" He blinked, "Because it was broken in the fight in the Ark I told you about before. Yuu's was too, our Innocence looked different before they were fixed and improved. At the time, they were still being fixed."

"Innocence can be broken?" She frowned in concentration as she finished bandaging his chest. She began to clean up his face then, and ignored the suggestive look he gave her.

"Sure," He finally said when she was still ignoring him, "Noah's and Akuma both have something called Dark Matter. It's the polar opposite of Innocence. It's the only thing that can destroy it, and likewise. The Noah's have made it their business to go around looking for a certain piece of Innocence and… well, actually, they just destroy every piece they come across. They've killed many exorcists, and as you know, we never had many to start with."

Hermione finished his face and hesitated. She was very smart, the brightest witch of her age, but medical care just wasn't something she excelled at. He waved her away and motioned toward Allen instead. She nodded and moved over to the younger boy, gently prying his shirt away, since it was in ruins already. When she saw the damage, she had to shut her eyes and take deep breaths. She pretended that the slight tremor in her hands was because of the horror she felt at the wounds, and not because of how scared she was to be so close to him. It really didn't make sense to her – she had just been all broken up about his possible death a little while ago, hadn't she? But the screaming, and then his attitude change...

Allen obviously had broken ribs, one even made a rather obvious bump, and his breast plate seemed damaged as well. Gashes, cuts, and bruises galore. His lips were split in three different places and his left eye was swollen from a cut than had come dangerously close to blinding him. The light revealed damage to his leg, and after tearing the pant leg, they discovered a shattered kneecap.

Hermione bit her tongue to hold back the tears she felt like spilling. She had no idea what to do with the knee other than bind it. Heck, that was about all she knew what to do about his wounds, other than the gashes. She felt horrible at the sight of the broken boy before her. She thought of Kanda, and dreaded what she would see when she got a good look at him. Fear of Allen withstanding or not, she couldn't to _not_ do what her limited medical knowledge afforded her.

Afterward, there was nothing to do except rest. Lavi wasn't able to keep himself awake and he drifted in and out. Ron slept fitfully, tossing and turning and often seemed to be having a nightmare. Hermione tried her best to stay awake. She stayed between her two patients in case they woke and needed her help, but she ended up drifting off deep enough that she didn't literally jerk awake every few minutes. Harry himself was exhausted, but he was haunted by the things that had happened that day.

First, the horrible Ministry visit, and then the Level Four attack and Kanda's transformation, all in the same day. It was physically and emotionally draining, but he only slept occasionally, determined as he was to be a better leader and detect any danger before it found them. Nevermind the fact that if it came, there's was so very little he would be able to do about it.

Dawn was the most welcomed thing in a long time. When the sun peeked over the horizon, Kanda began to revert to his human form. He lay on his side, slightly curled, and his long hair was loose. It ruffled every time the wind blew. Harry felt almost amused. He wondered what they looked like from the outside. A group of kids who were barely adults, wounded and passed out all amongst the chaos of the battlefield. It made quite the picture in his head. At one point, he thought he'd seen something among the trees, but nothing happened and it eventually slipped his mind.

Lavi forced himself up when the sun was just over the trees. He still looked exhausted, and little black rings were starting to develop under his eyes, but he pushed himself up anyways. Tiredly, he knelt by Harry and murmured,

"Could you get Kanda's suitcase from Hermione's bag? I need it."

Harry did it without a word, though he internally felt a little nervous when the other began rummaging around in it. Moments later, it was thrust back at him, and he put it back in Hermione's little beaded bag.

Lavi took the clothes he'd grabbed and stepped over Ron, who had yet to rise fully. He reached Kanda and knelt by the other.

"Come on Yuu," He murmured, "I know you don't want to get up, but you should put these on. I don't want you to kill me if I lug you around half naked."

Kanda stirred and weakly kicked the other. A moment later and he shimmied into the pants he was given, and when he reached as high as he could go, he ripped the remains of his previous pair from his hips. He ignored all of Lavi's attempts for him to put on a shirt, and the red head quickly realized why.

As he pulled the other up, Lavi winced at the gash across the others chest. It was long and jagged, and would probably put a normal man in critical care for months. He ignored the blood that was smeared on him when he lugged the other up, one arm wrapped around the waist, the other holding the arm around his neck. When he reached back to the group, Hermione was already up and she paled at the bare chested and wounded new-werewolf.

"Is he… That wound…" She shut her eyes and made a pained face, "Is he…?"

"He'll be okay," Lavi assured her, despite her disbelieving face, "We need to get going, move to a different spot."

He moved to Allen and called his name. The white haired boy didn't open his eyes, but he grumbled a quiet remark.

"Hey, Allen, we're going to get going, okay?" He nodded to Hermione, who started to kneel down, "So if you feel uncomfortable, try to relax."

Allen mumbled something and one of his hands twitched violently. In fact, he began to hum, and both his hands twitched again. The witch watched worriedly. Then the door to the ark opened in a blaze of light. After a moment, he raised his voice to speak a little louder,

"Use… 'e Ark…"

Lavi hesitated to do so, and frowned.

"I can levitate him," Hermione offered, "That won't really be a problem."

"… Alright. Do that."

After a moment, when everything was ready, Lavi took the lead and moved inside the door of light. He waited until everyone was standing on the white road inside before kicking the door shut and startling a disgruntled Ron. He moved them all among the streets and he began to walk. Allen was levitated along with them, and Hermione paid close attention to him.

After a moment of pause at an intersection of roads, he moved off to the right, and eventually he paused in front of another door that seemed slightly familiar.

"I don't know the layout of this place very well. I only know what a couple of doors lead to in here," He let Harry open the door and said, "This is the only relatively safe place I know of. Maybe we even should have stayed here from before, but it's not really the best of ideas."

Harry was the first to walk in, and he found himself back in the familiar destruction of a castle forgotten. He heard his friends follow, and Hermione stumbled in surprise. She looked around in awe,

"Where is this?"

"This?" Lavi appeared behind her, managing to get the door shut and the white light disappeared, "Welcome to the old base of the Black Order."

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A/N: There you go. It's even a page longer and everything. I had planned on having them go back to the old base eventually, but it seems it got its way sooner than I thought it would. Though, since I don't plan on much of anything, I guess it's no surprise when what I do plan goes awry. Oh well. I'm satisfied.

Anyways, hope you like it, enjoy, and review before you leave! (Is it strange I save all of the reviews? They're just so awesome!) See you on Wednesday!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Alrighty. Recently, I got a brand new computer, and it is a good one. The Internet, though, is another story. It has a habit of suddenly stop working, and it takes forever to get it working again. I don't know why it keeps doing that, but anyways. I had trouble writing this with all the distractions on the Internet (In fact, I didn't even start it until today). But, I hope you enjoy, and I wanted to say a quick thank you to all those who review. I never thought I'd get so many for something like this, and I would have stopped writing a long time ago if not for the encouragement! (Particularly those who review every chapter! I've gotten to almost memorize their names, lol!)

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Harry glanced around warily. It was cold, seeing as winter wasn't all that far off, and he sat on a piece of stone rubble, huddled in a blanket. Small lamps had been set around the area – destroyed as the place may be, it was still dark inside.

It had been three days since they had arrived at the old Black Order base. It was amazing, even in pieces. He, nor his friends, had dared to explore far; They didn't want something to collapse or cause any more damage or trouble. Ron and Hermione were gone at the moment, as they had already decided not to go anywhere alone, and they were currently looking for supplies elsewhere. It wasn't the best of ideas, but they desperately needed medical items, any they could get their hands on, and their other supplies were quickly growing thin as well.

The exorcists had been unconscious the whole time. The moment Lavi had been allowed to relax even minimally, and he was out like a light. He, nor Kanda, had woken even once the whole time. As it was, their injuries were severe. The kind he was certain should put them out of commission for quite a while. It was frustrating to have to sit there while these three suffered for him and his friends. His golem, too, had made an appearance again. He'd almost forgotten about it, since it had the tendency to disappear so much. He found that it had been hiding in his hood, and now it had made itself comfortable mushed in between his clothes with the rest of his stuff.

Allen stirred nearby, his head lolling to the side. The younger boy tended to wake up every once in a while, but whenever he did, he was always out of it. His wounds, particularly his shattered kneecap, had given him a raging fever that refused to abate. Even delusional, he never complained of the pain.

Harry moved very carefully, shifting until he was by the others side. He turned the washcloth on the boy's head on its opposite side. Two gray-blue orbs opened, staring past the wizard with an intensity that he hadn't known was possible, under the conditions. Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he turned to look behind him, but found nothing of interest. The lamps cast wavering shadows over the walls, and he felt paranoid enough that he moved to the exorcists other side.

"Allen," He called softly as he settled down, "Can you hear me, Allen?"

The white haired boy murmured something under his breath, and he leaned closer in order to hear. But even with his ear so close, he couldn't understand what was being said.

"Allen?" He tried again, "Focus on me. Stay with me, you can do it."

Allen's eyes focused on him for only a moment before becoming unfocused and dizzy. After a moment, he replied, his voice heavy and rough,

"Water?"

Harry scrambled to be able to actually do something helpful. He found their water container and very carefully tried to give some to Allen. Quite a bit actually missed the mark, but the other didn't seem to notice. Afterward, he leaned back and waited to see if maybe the sudden lucid behavior had been a fluke. Seconds of internal struggling passed before the other spoke again,

"How.... bad?" Allen's voice cracked, and for a moment, Harry feared that the pain was even grater than he'd thought it was. Of course the others throat would be a little sore, but a few days of misuse didn't seem to excuse the pain the other seemed to be in when he tried to talk.

"...It's... it's pretty bad," Harry wasn't sure if he should try to tone the injuries severity down or not, but he felt that it was necessary for a fighter to know when something was wrong with their body. "The worst bit is your knee. I think... we think it was shattered somehow. The bone, that is."

"No... no bone," Allen replied, still struggling, "In your knee. Only... cartridge."

"Do you want more water?"

He shook his head and turned to the side. Seconds later, he spit, and the wizard with alarmed to see blood. Harry's eyes widened, and he helped the other lay back on his back,

"Blood? What's wrong? Could it be... internal bleeding?"

Allen shook his head, paused, then shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak again, but he was cut off,

"Stop talking if it hurts so much, Allen," Harry hesitated, "I... I'm really sorry... about what happened."

A hand fell on his knee, and he looked up to see a frown. The other boy tilted his head to the side, and it was fairly amusing to see.

"Thank you," He added, "... You... Just thank you. And you should rest. Every thing's fine."

He received a brilliant smile and a pat on the leg before the hand fell away and the gray-blue eyes closed. After a moment or two, the others slightly heavy breathing evened out and became softer.

He felt a bit lonely now, though. The cold air, though greatly blocked from outside, seemed to become a little colder, and he shivered. Feeling his spirits drop, he glanced at the other two.

Lavi was breathing softly, and he lay on his back as well. His shirt was gone, but Ron and Harry had both managed to get a button up shirt on his frame at least. Granted, it wasn't nearly enough, so Ron's sleeping bag had been unzipped and laid over him. He wore a peaceful expression.

Kanda lay not too far away, also on his back. His breathing was very shallow, very quiet, and sometimes Harry had to stare for a couple minutes in order to catch the gentle rise of the others chest through Hermione's own sleeping bag. He seemed peaceful as well, despite the small pile of bloody bandages by his head.

He glanced at Allen again, and he found the other had a small wince on his face every time he took a breath. He was partly covered by Harry's own bag, but his leg had been wrapped and splintered. Harry frowned, eying the boys throat. Then, he remembered something – Hermione had mentioned hearing the boy scream. That would certainly mess up someones throat, but was it enough to, perhaps, tear the throat walls?

_'If he screamed _loud_ enough,'_ he though morbidly. Feeling even worse, he went to find his things. After a moment, he found another of his scarves, one that Mrs. Weasly had made for him. He shimmied back over and, careful not to hinder the others breathing, wrapped it around the boy's neck. He knew from experience that cold air on a torn throat was painful, and so he blocked the coldness as well as he could. The boy's breathing seemed to calm and his face smoothed out, leaving only a lingering, faint grimace.

He began to fiddle with his own scarf, idly braiding the ends on the tassels, trying to shove down his negative feelings. He wasn't even wearing the Horcrux! He dreaded putting it back on, and he wasn't so sure he could keep his crumbling resolve in check if he had to deal with the negative feelings it induced. It was something they had figured out the day after they had arrived here – The Horcrux amplified bad feelings, making the person wearing it more aggressive, less patient. So they had decided to take turns wearing it, and it was always great when they had to hand the thing off, but it was horrible when they, eventually, found it back in their hands again. At the moment, Ron was wearing it, and he worried about that. Ron became much more angry and unreasonable with it on. Hermione usually became very snappy, and her voice was often clipped. They couldn't get rid of it for even a moment, and it hung over them like a dark cloud that refused to dissipate.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, lost in his own thoughts, and he thought he might have even dozed a little. He had hardly slept at all recently, plagued as he was by his failures and lack of information. He had found himself ever so slowly losing faith in Dumbledore. He had thought the old wizard knew what he was doing, knew how to win, and maybe he had. That thought hurt for the simple fact that Dumbledore may have known... and he hadn't told Harry. In fact, he hadn't told Harry much of anything. Harry had caught glimpses of Dumbledore's past lately, through small rumors and the news of Rita Skeeter's new book. He didn't know much about Dumbledore himself, about what to do, about how to stay alive. Where was he suppose to go? Voldemort could have hidden his Horcrux's _anywhere_! How was he suppose to find them?

He shook his head, telling himself to take a page out of Lavi's book and take things one step at a time. One step, and that first step was keeping hidden and undiscovered while the exorcists recovered. However long that took.

Voices cut through his concentration, and he ducked back so he was out of sight. There were only a few doors left intact, and one was opened. He heard two people talking softly, and it didn't take him but a moment to recognize them. Still, he kept out of sight, feeling oddly anxious even though it was only his friends.

He couldn't make out what was being said, but when both rounded the rubble he was hiding behind, he had to squash the ridiculous feeling that he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't be doing; The urge to hide, though, did not go away. It was a rather ridiculous feeling – why was he so uneasy about them all of a sudden? Well, perhaps its was all of a sudden, but it still felt ridiculous.

Ron and Hermione spotted him almost instantly, and both jumped, Hermione covering her mouth to cover her cry of surprise.

"Harry!" She exclaimed, calming only a little, "I... you..."

"You're here," Ron cut in, his question phrased like a statement. Harry gave them both a very strange look,

"Where else would I be?" He asked softly. The other two glanced at each other for a second before looking away.

"I don' know," Ron mumbled, and Harry stood slowly, eyes narrowing,

"Did you think I would leave?" He barely hid his disbelief, settling on faint annoyance instead.

"No!... No," Hermione shook her head a little too much, "Not at all, of course not Harry! Here, come out from there."

Her slightly nervous demeanor made him frown, "Why?"

"Because," She hesitated, " You... It just makes me uncomfortable, with you standing in the shadows like that."

He rose an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side, not even realizing he was mimicking Allen's move from a little while ago.

"They're just shadows, Hermione," He said, but he stepped forward anyway. He barely paid her any mind when she began dusting him off to give her hands something to do. His eyes were fixed on his other friends; the fire made Ron's face seem strange and unfamiliar. It was intimidating, to tell the truth, but he hid his discomfort by staring right back.

"How have the exorcists been?" Hermione looked up into Harry's face, "Have any of them..."

"They're fine," He replied shortly. Ron snorted softly,

"Fine?" He repeated, his voice slightly mocking. Hermione blinked, turning around in slight alarm.

"Allen woke up," Harry continued, "He seemed to recognize me. We communicated, for maybe a few minutes or so before I told him to rest again. I think his throat was torn."

He didn't miss how she glanced nervously at Allen, or her swallowing heavily. Following her gaze, Ron looked at the white haired boy as well, but when he saw the scarf his mother had made, he froze.

"Yes... well," Hermione coughed softly, "I... I wouldn't be surprised. We didn't really manage to get much."

He barely heard her over the sudden glare sent his way from the Weasly. She was still talking, too, but he continued to ignore her until he interrupted her list of things they had gotten.

"Something wrong, Ron?" He asked. He kept everything mocking, everything challenging, from his voice, but it still seemed like the other managed to be offended. He didn't actually _want_ to start anything, but he couldn't stand the way the other kept looking at him, and at the exorcists.

"You seem to be getting pretty bloody... friendly... with the exorcists," Ron said, his voice slightly accusing as he waved at the wounded members of their group.

"What's wrong with that?" Harry replied coolly, but the other didn't seem to hear him.

"Whatever happened to agreeing to letting them come, but not trusting them?"

"Ron, they saved our lives. _Look at them_," He demanded. But the other didn't, stubbornly refusing to look away.

"They're exorcists," Rom countered, and Hermione looked between them worriedly, "You've seen what they're capable of doing. You heard for yourself that their organization doesn't even like us. What's stopping them from betraying us the moment they figure out where their precious Innocence is?"

Harry knew that Ron was probably saying these things under the Horcrux's influence. He knew. But for some reason, he found himself incensed, deeply offended.

"They're _human beings_," He hissed, "They haven't given us _reason_ to distrust them. None. We would be _dead_ right now, the whole world lost, if not for them. Bloody hell, I would have been dead _months _ago, if not for them!"

"Ron, maybe you should give the locket to me now," Hermione whispered hurriedly, "You're being unreasonable."

"Unreasonable? Are you on his side now?" Ron's face showed his betrayal, and both boys were surprised when she exclaimed,

"I'm on _nobodies_ side! I just... we can't let this happen! He have to stay strong, we can't let the Horcrux drive us to this!"

She looked between them pleadingly, and Ron seemed to bite his tongue in order to hold back his first response. After a moment, he ripped the chain from around his neck and tossed it to her, before stalking away, still within sight, but out of hearing range.

"I... I think we should put it away for a while," She murmured uncertainly, "Just... rest."

Harry didn't reply, instead moving to sit near the other three. Honestly, he was a little hurt she wasn't on his side – why was it so hard to look at these exorcists like actual people? Granted, he'd only just started to recently himself, but he was learning. He was trying to adapt, because it would be the death of him if he didn't, but his friends seemed to stubbornly taking a different view. He wondered, then, if perhaps it was the same for them; would it be the death of them if they refused to change their ways?

The silence was stifling, and as Hermione placed the locket in her bag, she tried to be discreet when she moved to sit a little ways away. She glanced at Allen's direction several times as she busied herself with a book out of her bag.

Ron didn't return to their side for quite a while, but when he did, he had a distinctly contemplative and guilty look on his face. He didn't apologize, though, so he remained fairly isolated.

Boredly, Harry made sparks come out of the end of his wand, unsure of what to do. He really did dislike being on bad terms with his friends, who had been with them through almost everything, but this he refused to admit defeat. He almost asked Hermione what her problem with Allen was, but in the end he didn't. He told himself he would later, when perhaps the air wasn't so thick.

He wordlessly began to help Hermione build a fire, though, when she started to do it herself. They used small things for the fuel, and then she lit it with a small spell. When she had it going, she pulled out some left over pasta they had been preserving that Kreacher had made. She was very careful when she heated it up.

Harry, though, only ate a little bit. He was feeling strangely unhungry, and he felt it would be good to preserve as much as possible anyway. The other two didn't seem big on eating a lot either, and almost half of it was left after they were done.

When shifting came from the side, they turned as one, unsure what to expect. They hadn't really thought they would see Kanda sitting up and looking around with a curiously blank face. When his gaze settled on the wizards, his eyes lit up in realization. His mouth opened to speak, but then he abruptly shut it.

"Water?" Harry asked softly as he stood. He grabbed his own container as well as his leftover food, stepping very carefully over all the uneven ground, before kneeling by the Japanese. He held both items out at the same time, and the first thing the other went for was the water. After a moment, he handed it back, and then began to stand. Hermione cried out, startled and a little angry as well,

"What are you doing?! Lay back down, you'll reopen the wound!"

He ignored her as he got to his feet, looking around with a frown,

"Why are we here?" He grunted, his voice scratchy.

"Allen insisted we used the Ark to get away from the place we were at before. Lavi led us here, and we've been here since," Harry didn't complain as the other moved around, knowing that if anybody would know he was fit to move, it would be him. Though he still watched the other like a hawk, just in case, as he remembered Lavi's determination to help him despite his wounds.

"How long?"

"Three days," Hermione cut in, "Now lay back down! You'll hurt yourself even more! You shouldn't be able to get on your feet, and it certainly isn't good for you!"

"I'm fine," He was surprisingly unsnappish, calm and almost patient.

"You are not! Those wounds..." She trailed off and shivered, "Those wounds are severe, so sit down before... before..."

She hesitated slightly.

"Before I make you," Her voice came out like a squeak, and it wasn't at all intimidating. Particularly when compared to the dark glare sent her way. Harry would have been amused if the situation wasn't so serious.

Kanda wordlessly began to unravel the extensive bandages around his chest, and nobody spoke as they waited to see what he was doing. Harry was the first to see, and he marveled at the sight.

Kanda's bare chest was free from any wound at all, not even a scar remained. It was as if there hadn't ever been anything there at all. But one thing they all noticed was what appeared to be a tattoo on the left side of the man's chest. Harry didn't recognize the symbol at all, and he wasn't sure if Hermione did either. Small marks spread out from the mark, and at first glance it appeared mesmerizing and almost beautiful. But as he stared, he thought it looked rather like a disease, slowly infecting the rest of him. The marks spread a ways in all directions, and they even partially extended up the others neck. Harry knew that if it had been there before, he'd have noticed it, seeing as the other had been wearing a white button-up just before the battle with the Level Four. There was no way he would have missed it, but did that mean that it had only appeared in the last three days?

"That's..." Hermione moved closer, looking for any signs of marks. When she realized that she was oogaling a man's chest, her face went beet red and she stepped back. "That's... incredible."

Ron wondered if it was the lack of wounds she was talking about, and he scowled darkly. Kanda's lip twitched in amusement before he moved over to Lavi's side. He looked the other over slowly, taking note of any injuries he saw before he actually asked for the list. As Harry named all the notable wounds he could remember Lavi having, he did his own check over Kanda. He still could find nothing wrong, nothing noticeable. After a moment, he asked,

"How do you feel?"

The swordsman glanced at him before looking away.

"Fine," He replied curtly as he stood and stepped over to where Allen lay.

Harry didn't push the issue and watched the others face as he looked over his comrade. He watched as the others eyes narrowed on the shattered knee, and so he he said,

"We're pretty sure it's shattered. Is he going to be able to heal correctly?"

For a long few moments, he was sure that he wasn't going to get an answer, but then came,

"Probably."

"Probably?" Hermione squeaked.

"As a Parasite type, he heals faster than normal people. I don't know how well he'll heal an injury like that, though, without a doctor."

"Should we find one?" She asked, eyes wide, "I mean, it could lead to a lot of trouble, but if he doesn't heal right, he might never be able to use that leg right again!"

Harry silently felt grateful. At least she seemed to care, despite whatever problem she'd had with the boy lately. Kanda, however, seemed to have used up his social points for the day, because he ignored her and began looking around instead. After a few long moments, Harry went to his things and pulled out the sword, quietly holding it out. It was nearly snatched from his hands, but he couldn't say he was surprised.

He watched the other take a place near where he'd left the food and start to eat. Silence fell again. It was perhaps half an hour before another began to stir.

Lavi didn't sit up, and he blinked up at the ceiling tiredly. He was currently in pain – everything hurt, from his toes to his scalp. Honestly, he just wanted to sleep some more, but there was a delicious smell teasing his nose, and he felt like he hadn't eaten a quite a long time. His stomach growled in agreement, and he quietly sighed.

When a face appeared above his, he couldn't hold back his jump of surprise, and he groaned at the pain it caused.

"Sorry," Harry gave him a smile, "How are you feeling, Lavi?"

"Like I got hit by a train. A very big train," Lavi replied, managing a grin, "How is everybody?"

He heard shuffling a little ways off, and then another face came into his line of vision,

"Oh, hey, Yuu!" He exclaimed, "Glad to see you back to normal!"

"Just because you're wounded doesn't mean I won't hurt you," Kanda warned through narrowed eyes, "Don't call me by my first name."

Was it him, or did Kanda seem almost... calm? Patient? Well, it must be the fever talking, he decided.

"Yeah, yeah, if you say so," Lavi would have waved his hand dismissively, but since he couldn't he tried to put all the emotion in his voice. He cried out softly when there was a vicious tug on his hair, "Hey, man, watch it! I don't want to go bald early like the old Panda!"

Ah. The old Panda. He was only partly surprised to find himself missing the old man. Missing the whole Order, in fact. He sighed softly. It was a really nice feeling to know he had somewhere to go back to... But he was fully aware of how dangerous that affection was.

"Lavi?" Harry was looking at him in concern, and so he smiled encouragingly.

"How's the Bean sprout?"

Harry glanced to the side, and he winced as he forced his neck to turn as well. When he caught sight of his friend, he felt all the air in his lungs leave him, like he'd gotten sucker punched. He saw the boys leg and knew that it needed to be taken care of quickly enough, or the damage would be long-lasting.

"Ah," Was all he could say.

Harry looked guilty now, and Lavi didn't consider himself the type to be particularly comforting, but since Kanda was even worse, he offered an encouraging smile,

"Chin up, now. Gotta be sharp."

The wizard gave a weak grin before shrugging,

"I'm glad you're awake," He admitted, glancing at Kanda, "Hopefully Allen will wake up soon as well."

"Yeah."

Lavi noticed, then, that he hadn't seen the other two magical people of their group. He forced himself to look around, and eventually caught sight of them watching them. He had a feeling that something had happened. Perhaps a fight, he mused, or maybe something else entirely. He tried to wave. When they saw his pathetic attempt, Hermione stood and moved closer. She knelt by Harry, her face worried and guilty,

"I'm so sorry I can't do more," She looked at the ground, "And... And thank you... very much... for what you did."

"'t's what we're here to do," Lavi reminded her, "We weren't lying when we said we were here to help you against the Akuma."

"I... I know," She murmurer, but her guilty voice made him think that no, she hadn't. He grinned, slightly, and he reached up and tugged at her hair,

"Hey now, I said I'd be fine, didn't I? We all will be, we always are," This seemed to actually make her feel worse, so he added, "You look a lot prettier when you smile."

"I don't see how you can joke like this," She waved at his beaten body in distress. He blinked.

"Who said I was joking?"

She blinked, as if the possibility had never crossed her mind.

"Er.. well.... I mean. Well, still."

"It would be nice if you spoke in English, or a language I know," He winked as well as he could with one eye. She blushed, and he noticed distantly that Ron was glowering ferociously. He decided to tone it down some, and said, "Anyways, was that food I was smelling before, or was that the fever? I'm starving, and I think I could eat anything."

Harry smiled and nodded. He stood and moved to the small fire they had going, where Ron stared into the flames with a deep-set frown.

It was hard for Lavi to eat when he could barely move his arms at all, and when he did, it always hurt anyway. Kanda refused to do much, and he couldn't help it when he teased the witch, asking her to feed him. He was sure everyone was surprised when she agreed, though blushing heavily. Even though he knew it was only because he had been wounded defending her, he still grinned and opened his mouth wide.

He tired much too quickly, and before he knew it, he was ready to pass out again. The others seemed to understand, and when he finally closed his eyes, he was left with that lingering homesickness that had remained with him.

__--*--__

A/N: Finally. That was so hard to write. Or, well, more like it was hard to stretch to my requirement. And I'm sure the next chapter will be just as hard. I hope not.

Anyways, thank you for everything, and I hope you enjoyed, and please review on your way out!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: New modem... and still trouble, though now for a different reason! What's up with that?!

Also, was watching some of Britain's Got Talent. They had some pretty cool dance crews!

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Two nights later found Harry deep asleep. His day had been long, and the meager relaxation he could get was welcome. There had been a heavy atmosphere around everyone all day, filled with things that hadn't been said, and things that needed to be said. Ron had kept to himself, talking little, and Hermione had taken to keeping herself busy at all times. Lavi was able to sit up and move around a little, but was still unable to stand. Allen had woken up once more, but he was still partially out of it, as if he thought he might be somewhere else.

Harry was not only worried about the exorcists, or all of their predicament and lack of plan. He was not stupid. He'd seen his two friends talking every once in a while. At first, he'd been glad things had seemed to have taken a step forward to getting back to normal – but then, as soon as he approached, they had ceased talking, as if they didn't want to be overheard. Their cover up was good, and he told himself he was probably imagining things, but still they talked in low tones when they didn't think he was around. It was alarming, and disappointing, and he had a few guesses as to what they were talking about, and he thought it might've been one of the things hanging about their heads that needed to be said.

But nobody said anything.

That, he thought, was worse than if they had come right out with whatever they were whispering.

He rolled over in his sleep, shifting again almost instantly when a sharp pebble began digging into his side. It was so hard to get comfortable. He missed his bed dearly, sharp springs and everything.

A sound cut into his sleep, low and not quite alarming enough to wake him. He rolled over again, away from the sound. Strangely, it was when the noise stopped that he began to wake, and when it started again, he found himself too awake to slip off into sleep again.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand and reaching around to find his glasses. They had been dangerously close to being crushed by his own body, and he quickly put them on.

It was very dark, which was not a surprise, but it sent chills down his arms that weren't from the cold. There was one lamp positioned by one of the doors in order to give at least a little light, and also reveal any intruders to them before they would be spotted. By the scant light, he looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first. Still, the soft sound continued, and he couldn't think of what it was.

Ron was laying a little ways away, spread out in his usual messy pose. Lavi and Allen lay side by side, from where Lavi had stayed after his friend woke up the first time after he'd also woken. Kanda was against a large piece of rubble, sword to his chest and his eyes, supposedly, closed. He looked for the last piece of the group, and found her not far from him. What alarmed him, though, was that her shoulders shook heavily, and he realized with a jolt that the sound was her _crying_.

He hesitated at first. Hermione was a strong person, for the most part, and she never liked to cry. She wouldn't want anybody to see. Was that why she was crying, now, when everyone else was sleeping? After a moment, he gathered his resolve and called her name softly.

Her breathing barely changed, and her crying certainly didn't stop. He grabbed his wand, waving a spell over them both so that nobody else would wake up, before he began to shift off to her side. His shoulders were tight and there was a cramp in his leg, and he wished even more for that bed, or the tent that had been destroyed.

He found that the witch was still asleep, and even then she was trying to hold her sobs in as best as she could. As he sat down beside her, she suddenly threw her arm out and let out a cry, silenced by the spell on her. His heart started to break at the sight, and he reached for her shoulder. She jerked at the touch, wiggling around as if she were trying to escape somebodies grip.

Clenching his teeth, and grabbed both her shoulders, he tried calling her name again. Her eyes snapped open, looking around wildly, face pale.

"Hermione," He whispered, his voice cracking, "Hermione, it's me. Look at me."

She did, but the panic hardly left her eyes. She seemed to stop breathing for a moment, and then she let out a sob that would have woken everybody if not for the spell. She flung herself at him, wrapping both arms around his neck, her thick hair flying into his face. His arms circled her slowly, and he never said a word as she cried on his shoulder. He rubbed her back, shifting them both into a more comfortable position, and decided to wait it out, his heart twisting more and more as the minutes went by.

She cried for a very long time. And when she was done crying, she continued to shake violently like a child who had had a terrible nightmare. When it was over, the left side of his shirt clung awkwardly to his skin, and she was asleep, leaning on him heavily. He did not see the exchange of looks behind his back, between a pair of green eyes, and another of black.

His chest ached as he maneuvered her to lay down on her back. His hands even shook a little, and he jumped when she suddenly latched onto his arm, eyes still closed, and no matter how he pulled, she refused to let go. His attempts were halfhearted anyway, and he slowly lay down beside her. His eyes closed, and he fell back into sleep.

He dreamed that he was outside the Weasly house again. He knew, instinctively, just as sure as he knew in the back of his head that he was dreaming, that he had already finished the mission that had been given to him, and that Voldemort was dead. When he had seen that house again, he had been filled with a sense of peace and relief. He felt like he'd traveled the world without rest, and was only now seeing his friends again after a very, very long time. He wasn't sure how long it had been, years maybe, but he also knew that everyone was inside, waiting for him.

Opening the door revealed the smell of freshly baked bread, and it was heavenly. He had thought it strange at first when nobody was there – shouldn't there be somebody to greet him? He'd been gone so very long, after all. But then Mrs. Weasly appeared, ushering him to the sitting room enthusiastically. Everyone was, indeed, there. His heart warmed at the proud smiles he found, and he even caught sight of his parents. When he did, he felt a nagging on the back of his mind, a warning perhaps, but he shoved it away.

The warmth and happiness did not last long – before he knew it, the faces were morphing into monsters, into creatures he had seen and began to hate. One after another, and they all cried his name, screamed for him to help them. They cried tears of blood, and then he found guns pointed at his head.

He woke the moment he heard the gunshots, and for a moment he wasn't sure he was still dreaming or not. When he focused, he found Ron's face, staring down at him with a carefully blank expression. There was silence for several long moments.

"I.... sorry... was there something you needed?" Harry asked slowly, trying to reach up to wipe his profusely sweating forehead. He found his arm in a death grip, though, and he looked to see Hermione still had a hold. Ron followed his gaze, and scowled,

"I was trying to wake you up before it got late, but I guess I should leave you two alone."

"What?" Harry blinked, startled, "Leave us...? This...! Ron, I'm only right here because-"

"I don't really care," His friend replied coldly, "It's none of my business."

"No, you don't get it, I swear-"

"You're right. I thought I did, but I guess I don't."

Baffled, he watched the redhead walk away stiffly. Incredulous, he shook his head slowly, recounting the conversation and finding himself just as confused. Frustration set in quickly, but it faded when the girl beside him began to stir. Hermione sat up slowly, looking like she hadn't slept all that much at all,

"What? I thought I heard voices...?"

"...Just me and Ron," He replied, making a mental note to talk to the other later, "Nothing to worry about. How do you feel?"

"...Feel?" Her eyes went down to their arms and she seemed startled, "I'm okay, I guess... What...?"

"Nothing." Obviously, she didn't seem to remember, and he was torn between gratitude and annoyance. He stood and stretched, feeling sore. She stood as well, looking around in curiosity.

Lavi sat near the small area they had taken to making the fire, and he grinned at them when he caught their eyes,

"Hey, 'mornin'. Sleep well?"

Harry felt like being grouchy and unreasonable, but instead he shrugged.

"What are you doing up?" Hermione demanded, "You guys, I swear, you'll only make things worse!"

"As flattered as I am that you so obviously have the hots for me," Lavi smirked, ignoring her startled and annoyed glare, "I'm afraid that I've always been a good healer, so, unfortunately, I won't be under your care for much longer."

"Don't be a macho idiot!" She exclaimed, stalking closer, "Even if you heal quickly, there's a good chance of infection, and that could kill you, exorcist or not!"

"Relax," He gave her a crooked grin as he moved some of the wood they had brought in into a small, neat pile in the middle of the make-shift fire pit, "I've been hurt plenty of times, these wounds aren't so bad."

At the admission to being wounded quite a bit, she hesitated. Uncertain, her fiery determination seemed to melt away, leaving behind her naked fear and shock. Harry was startled at the extreme to which the emotions played across her face. He had been a little surprised to at the blatant tone the other had used, but her reaction seemed over the top. Paying a little closer attention, he moved over, toward the fire.

"Oh... right," She covered herself up well enough, putting on a shaky smile, "Sorry."

Just by her own tone, Lavi could hear something was wrong. He looked up, blinking, but was unable to gauge her face because she turned away, heading for her bag instead. He looked to Harry in confusion, who shrugged. Harry was just as lost, though he thought maybe her nightmare may have had something to do with it.

Breakfast was a somber affair as they ate the very last of their food supplies. As it was, it was barely filling, and Harry worried about what would happen when Allen woke, considering how much the other ate on a regular basis. In fact, the younger boy had been unconscious for several days, and had not eaten a thing. As he continued to stare, Hermione noticed and spoke up slowly,

"Allen hasn't eaten in quite a while... I know he needs rest, but I think we should try to wake him and get him to eat something. If he doesn't, he might have more than just his wounds wrong with him."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Lavi nodded slightly, motioning toward the other boy, "Particularly for Allen, since he needs to eat more than most people. But we don't really have any food left. Perhaps we should go into town today, Yuu, and get what we can. We can try to wake the Bean Sprout for Lunch."

"'Needs to'?" Ron rose an eyebrow, "You mean he doesn't just _like_ to eat a lot?"

"Nah!" The other red head laughed, "Allen's an Parasite Type, and that means his body goes through higher activity than usual. So he needs to eat a lot more in order to keep working, just the same as you."

"Parasite Type? There are different types?" Hermione, in her interest at learning something new, leaning forward toward the other, eyes wide in wonder.

"Er... yeah. Parasite, Equipment, and recently there was the discovery of another type called Crystal," Lavi scratched the back of his head, "But there's only one known carrier of the Crystal type, and it's a friend of ours back at the Base. We still don't understand that one very well."

"So what are the differences between them?" She scooted closer, not noticing Ron's disgruntled look.

"Well..." He glanced at his only other conscious friend, who promptly ignored him, "Well... Yuu and I are both Equipment Types – our Innocence take the form of a weapon that we use, like Kanda's Mugan, and my Hammer."

"Mugan?" Harry rose an eyebrow, leaning back and stretching again.

"His sword."

"He _named _his sword?" Ron snickered, though he abruptly froze when the one they spoke of sent a glare that easily surpassed Snape's worst. He fell back into his faintly annoyed demeanor again.

"All of our Innocence have names," Lavi replied, "Like Allen's is Crown Clown. Anyways, Allen is a Parasite Type, and those are when our Innocence becomes a part of our bodies. Allen's left arm is Innocence. Generally, Parasite types die quicker than normal people because of the strain on their bodies, but they are usually more powerful as well. Also, they're pretty much immune to the akuma poisoning."

"They... die quicker?" Hermione paled slightly as she gazed at the boy, "And... what about the Crystal Type you mentioned?"

"We hardly know. Lenalee's the only known one to have it. Before, hers was equipment type, a pair of boots, but during the attack at the old base... at _this _base... they evolved. They no longer qualified as either types, so she had hers renamed into Crystal Type. We don't know much about the differences or anything," Lavi shrugged.

"A pair of boots?" Harry couldn't hide his amusement and wonder, "How do they work?"

"Oh, they sound strange, but you should see her in action!"

"I guess Innocence comes in all shapes and forms, huh?"

"Definitely. 'S not so different from people, in that aspect."

Harry hummed softly in agreement. When silence fell, he thought that perhaps now was a good chance to bring up what had been nagging him recently.

"So..." All eyes went to him immediately, and he fought down a blush, "I was wondering... We don't have much of a plan, do we?"

He had no idea what was in his words that he couldn't hear, but Ron and Hermione shared another one of those looks that he was quickly growing to dislike. He ignored them and looked from Lavi to Kanda.

"...Now that you mention it, no. Not a one," Lavi tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Let's see. Well, this whole mission thing is to defeat your evil Dark Lord, right?"

Ron winced softly, but nodded with his friends.

"Alright, so then how do we do that? By destroying Horcrux's. The first step to that is obtaining said items. So – the plan is to find and destroy the Horcrux's."

Harry frowned at the dismissive tone, opening his mouth to point out... well, he wasn't sure, but it was on the tip of his tongue. Hermione, though, got to it first.

"That's not a good plan at all, if you can even call it one!" She exclaimed, "Besides, we don't even know where to look! And we haven't even gotten rid of the one we do have!"

"Which reminds me, by the way, how do you go about that anyway?" Lavi crossed his arms, "I imagine it has to be destroyed by magic, but since you haven't done it yet, I'm guessing we need something else that we don't currently have."

Harry glanced at the last unconscious figure a little ways away; They didn't sit too close so that they wouldn't wake the other by accident. He'd thought he'd seen movement out of the corner of his eye, but as he stared, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. He continued to stare, frowning, and it was because of that that he was able to see Timcampy appear from under the sleeping bag. He wondered how the creature had even gotten there in the first place. He guessed that golems were just naturally good at hiding.

He was still watching the general area when he saw movement. After a moment, he stood, ignoring the inquiries the others made. He moved over to where Allen was, and sat down beside him slowly. The white-haired exorcist stirred, but it seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else other than Harry.

"-ere is the thing then?" He heard Lavi sigh softly, "Isn't there anything else you could use that, you know, doesn't sound so dangerous to get?"

"Of course it's not the only thing in the world that would work," Hermione replied huffily, "But it's the only one I actually know of well enough that it would be worth finding. It was usually kept in Dumbledore's office, but there's not really any way of knowing if it's still there."

"That's just _dandy_," Lavi grumbled, "Hey Yuu, did the old man ever mention anything during one of his visits about a sword of any kind? Do you remember?"

"Don't you ever pay any attention?" Kanda snapped, "Whatever happened to your photographic memory?"

"It's still there, don't get me wrong, but I missed out on one of the old guy's visits, remember? The old Panda had me doing some other things, I think he was trying to keep me uninvolved."

"Obviously, that didn't work out so well," Ron mumbled, "Bloody insane."

Allen shifted again, and Harry thought he saw the other boy's eyebrow twitch.

"Finally, one of you three says something sensible," Kanda sneered.

Allen twitched again, and Harry was more than just a little startled when the boy suddenly reached to his side, grabbing a fist sized rock, and flung it at the swordsman's direction. His eyes followed it as well as they could, and he watched as Kanda caught the piece of Earth in his hand, turning with a scowl.

"You can be such an _arse_, Kanda," Allen accused, sitting up with a wince, "What did they ever do to you?"

"Allen!" Lavi exclaimed, moving much faster than someone who was so wounded should be able to move, "You're awake!"

"Way to state the obvious," Allen smiled softly, awkwardly patting the other exorcist on the back when the red head latched on, "It's good to see you too, Lavi."

"You gave us a scare!" Lavi's sobbing was so hysterical that Harry was positive that it was fake, "I'm so happy~!"

Allen winced slightly, shaking the hair out of his eyes,

"Oh! Am I hurting you?! I'm so sorry!" Lavi quickly moved to the side, "How do you feel?"

"Hungry."

Harry witnessed the red head pale at the flat tone, and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Kanda twitch.

"Let's pretend for a moment you ate already. How do you feel?"

"Still hungry..." Allen sighed as he saw his friends face, "And other than being a little sore, I think I can handle myself alright."

"Really?" Harry asked, his eyes flitting down to the others leg, "Are you sure? You were hurt so badly..."

The exorcist blinked, glanced down as well. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when he saw the damage to his leg,

"Well, now that you mention it, I can't feel that leg too well."

Hermione gasped, standing abruptly and moving over,

"Can't feel it? Is it numb? Or can you honestly not feel anything? Oh my, I knew something like this would happen for not finding a doctor!"

"Calm down," He smiled slightly, "I think it's just numb, like the blood circulation was cut off or something. I'm not sure of the extent of it, but I don't think it's quite as serious as what you're thinking."

Hermione looked as if she was going to start arguing, rather violently at that, but Lavi cut her off.

"Anyways, Yuu and I are going into town here soon to see if we can get some food, alright?"

"Get some? You don't mean... steal, do you Lavi?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I'm certainly not rich, heck I don't have a penny on me! The others don't either, and I already know Yuu doesn't have any."

"And how would you know that?" Kanda growled, stepping up behind the red head with a threatening glare.

"Oh, uh, er... Well, better get going!" Lavi grinned nervously, trying to slip out but being caught by the back of his shirt, "Look, I didn't do anything, honest!"

"I'm not surprised," Allen shook his head in a mock-pity way, "This is Kanda-bloody-Yuu we're talking about here. I bet he's cheap, or something."

"Watch your mouth, Bean Sprout."

"Or what?" He smiled innocently, "Besides, I'm the one with the best way of getting any money. I'll go with Lavi, and you can stay here."

"What?!" Hermione hissed, "You're not going anywhere! Kanda may have healed, strangely enough, and Lavi is thick-headed enough. But you, Allen, you've got to realize that you're in no shape to be going anywhere!"

Allen looked down at himself with a frown,

"You may be right," He looked up at her, "But I'm the only one, I bet, who can get money legally."

"And how would you manage that?" Ron asked from his place not far away, his curiosity not letting him keep silent any longer.

The exorcist grinned, and Harry thought that he might've seen Satan in that smile. It was an expression he'd never seen before on the usually polite boy, and he paused in surprise. It seemed horribly misplaced there.

"Oh boy," Lavi hid an eye roll, leaning over to murmur in his ear, "Black Allen is scary. Never get on Black Allen's bad side."

"Black Allen?" He whispered back, "What, like a split personality?"

"Something like that."

"It'll be easy," Allen spoke again, "Lavi might have to give me a hand, but it's not much trouble, I swear."

"How are you going to do it?" Ron repeated in annoyance.

"Oh, well, I'm a fair hand with cards."

"Cards?" Harry exclaimed incredulously, "You want to gamble?!"

He had _not_ seen that coming.

"He cheats like crazy," Lavi's voice was accusing, "Like, he never loses! Slight of hand, everything!"

"It's bad enough that you want to gamble, but you want to cheat too?!" Hermione hissed, "What if you lose? Where did you learn such things anyway?! And that is _not_ legal!"

Allen's face fell, turning into a look of horror. Lavi moved over to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder,

"Best not to mention that. Bad memories," He tapped to his temple, and she spun with such a fiery look that he slowly lifted his hand a took several steps back, hands lifted in the universal sign of surrender.

"I don't care!" She exclaimed, "I don't care that you're all macho idiots who think you've got to do everything yourselves!"

Lavi's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Kanda blinked. Allen tilted his head to the side, confused at her sudden desperate expression.

"You nearly got yourselves killed! I'm... I'm glad we're okay, but you're still hurt! You're not going anywhere, even if I have to stun you to make sure you stay still!"

"Well uh... if that's how you feel...." He said nervously, glancing around.

"It is!" She replied firmly, "Maybe if you're a little better tomorrow, but we can handle ourselves. We've been doing it while you were all out, and we can do it longer. Just... promise me you'll rest."

The exorcists exchanged looks. Harry, personally, after having known the other so long, recognized the signs of stress. He could see that she was indeed concerned about the exorcists well being, even if she was still nervous or frightened, or whatever it was. But she had never done well under too much stress, unlike he or Ron. He worried. They had only been at this for how long? Who knew how long it would take before it was over, and how much would it change them? He was losing confidence in his friends ability to handle this. Originally, it had been his burden to bear, but he'd truthfully welcomed the chance for company on an otherwise long and lonely mission.

But he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Alright. We'll rest," Lavi smiled cheekily, "Hey, Allen and Yuu, it's not so different from back at the Order, is it? The nurse there never let us leave either, except she was just a little more scary and violent."

"Kinda sounds like our nurse back at Hogwarts," Harry replied softly. He felt a pang of home sickness then.

Harry went with Ron not long afterward to go to town. He was a little surprised, because usually it was either Ron and Hermione who went. Not that he liked the idea, but it was less of a deal for the two to be caught than the Boy-Who-Lived. He was pretty sure that whatever it was, the other two were in on it together.

The trip was a nervous one, and they managed to get a good amount of fruit that would feed them easily. It probably wouldn't sate Allen enough, but they had to make do, and it was all they managed to swipe without getting caught. Not to mention that both were honestly guilty about stealing, even if it were only to survive.

They were able to create a balance between each other, and they made a kind of peace. Things died down, and he almost forgot the looks and times he caught his friends whispering, even if they didn't know he knew.

It was fun. He was shocked at how much more fun it really was. Allen was a bright guy, and he always had a smile. He was inspirational, as Harry discovered after a long amount of observation. Lavi was always joking, always grinning. Both of them made what should have been a cold, dreary, lonely night into what might've been a camp-out in the beginnings of winter. He admired their ability to smile even with such severe injuries – for indeed, their wounds were still severe. He'd taken to observing them when they didn't think he was watching. Sometimes Lavi would wince, or Allen would bite his lip in pain. And even Kanda's presence was welcoming. It hung over them all, and even though his comments were often harsh and outwardly hateful (And maybe the man really hated them all as much as it sometimes seemed, it was so hard to tell) he still watched over them all.

Once, Harry caught Lavi holding his breath in what seemed to be pain, and Kanda had abruptly stood from his rubble chair, moving to sit somewhere else. Lavi had smiled faintly and moved to sit at the vacated seat, and it seemed that Harry was the only one to have noticed. Either way, the swordsman's presence was heavy, certainly, but comforting as well.

Harry even had several laid-back conversations with Ron over that day. Hermione loosened up, she smiled and hardly even noticed when she sat near Allen. Whatever her previous problem was, she seemed to have forgotten it, even if only temporarily.

That night, Harry found himself at peace for the first time in a long while. In that frame of mind, he was able to think freely about everything. He reviewed what had happened. He went over all the things he'd done wrong, all the things he could have done better, and tried to make himself learn from his mistakes.

Then he came to the main problem that he'd found himself facing lately.

He was glad his friends had wanted to come. Glad they had made him agree. He was glad to have their support and encouragement, even if sometimes things seemed strange. He never once regretted it. Before, that is. And now, it wasn't quite regret he felt, but he knew that he just might find it sooner or later. This whole thing had effect Hermione already, and though she could get over it now, could easily repair herself, anything could happen in the future. _Anything_. And out of all the things he wanted to save, they were at the top of his list. He would never be satisfied if he saved the world and then returned home, his friends warped and never to be the same again. He would have probably stood it out if not for the Akuma business. He needed his friends help.

Unfortunately, he found that soon, the decision would be taken out of his hands.

__--*--__

A/N: I knew it. Hard. To. Write. Didn't turn out so well. I think it's because I want to do the next chapter, and the one after it. Oh yes. That will be fun.

Anyways, guess what?!!! The next chapter is the last of this 'arc'. Chapter 20 is the mark of a new one, where things change. If things go well, though I don't know how long_ that_ arc will last, it should lead to a lot of character development. Yay.

Also, Happy 4th of July! (Well, to those who celebrate it, I guess.) I just went out and saw the fireworks. My district or whatever has their own set of fireworks in the park near my house, and me and some of my family watched it from the back yard. It was pretty good too. Though Downtown's was better.

How was everyone else's? (Well, if you saw fireworks, at least.)

One other thing! I wanted to say this because I was asked a few times whether I would continue following the Hp and DGM story lines. I can say that the HP one will be changed, but the major things should be recognizable. DGM... I can really follow that without more info, can I? Unless, of course, you all want me to go on Hiatus until it comes back and I can continue as well? (So, the thing about Kanda-maybe-possibly-not-being-human will not happen (unless I can fit something in later, when the info is revealed.) And neither will the half-akuma people, because I have no idea where that's going. Even though I would have really liked to keep that. Who knows, I might change my mind.)

Anyways, review on your way out! It's the only reason I'm still writing, after all.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Well then. Thank you everyone for your reviews and opinions! Lol, I guess I'm not going on hiatus then. Well. Hadn't really wanted to, but though I should ask. To tell the truth though, this story kinda lost that whole drive that is always there at the very beginning of new stories.

I need to stop doing these at the last minute D:

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Harry fell backwards, landing on his behind with a grunt. Rubbing his cheek, he glared upwards, where Kanda was currently... aiming to cut off his head?

Eyes wide, he ducked and rolled to where his wand had fallen, ignoring the thin hairs falling to the ground. He grasped it tightly, spinning around. He intended to point it in the others direction, and a disarming spell was on the tip of his tongue, but the moment he turned his plans were cut short almost literally.

He never thought he'd find himself looking down the sharp angles of a sword before.

A bead of sweat rolled down his face, just barely missing his eye, and fell onto the Innocence without a sound. His harsh breathing split the air, his chest heaving, and he was annoyed to see that the other was barely breathing any different than he usually did. His hand itched to shoot the spell anyway, despite his current perilous situation. Seeing the others eyes, full of grim triumph, made him even more annoyed – he was so tired of losing something he was suppose to be good at.

It was probably only because he knew the other wouldn't really kill him that he bothered to swing his wrist up and hiss the spell, feeling anxious as he also rolled backwards and to the side. That was something he'd learned at some point during this long practice; never assume it was over. Always be ready, and as a wizard, attempt to move around as much as possible so that the enemy has a less chance of catching him off guard.

However, his experience would never match up to the others, and he felt something hard slam into his hand, hard enough to jar his tight grip and send his wand flying up and away. He caught sight of the others foot for just a moment. His back hit the ground heavily, winding him as it happened so many times. Another thing he had learned – when winded, never stay still. As hard as it was, he just tried to hold his breath while his lungs unclenched themselves and rolled away again. He caught sight of his wand, and it was much further than an arms reach, but he lunged for it anyway. He hardly made it a foot before something slammed into his side, and he had no choice but to curl up on himself, trying his hardest to catch his breath.

He became unaware of the exorcist as his mind internally panicked at the lack of oxygen, his limbs grew heavy, his chest hurt. It was just as he was seeing black spots on the edge of his vision that something hit him again, but not all that hard, and somewhere around the base of his neck. Breath whooshed in, and he spent several minutes just gasping and catching his breath.

Even after he'd caught his breath, he lay there. He was very sore, his ribs and jaw in particular. He didn't know how long he'd been there, practicing 'sparring' as Kanda called it. Usually, it was just his wand against Kanda's hands, and he thought it particularly embarrassing that he couldn't stun just one unarmed person. No matter that one person's battle experience or extra speed was so much greater than his own.

He rolled onto his back to see Kanda studying him from under his hair. Harry could tell he'd at least managed to surprise the swordsman, and he briefly felt pride at having done so. He rather expected the other to make some off-handed comment to tear down his somewhat good mood, but instead Kanda scoffed.

"That was reckless," He berated, "If I had wanted to kill you, I could have during that little stunt."

"Yeah, well," Harry grinned slightly, the pain in his chest easing, "If you had wanted to kill me, you would have done it way before it even came to that."

The Japanese's eyebrows shot up, and then a smirk graced his face.

"So you didn't have all the sense knocked out of you after all."

Harry laughed, even though it hurt a little,

"Maybe, but you've probably knocked everything else out instead."

He wasn't sure why he was in such a good mood. He'd woken up, two days after everything had _seemed_ to lighten up (though he was proven horribly wrong the day after, when things went right back to how they'd been before after he had a small spat with Ron about some stupid little thing.) This morning had been gloomy, as if in prediction to the day, and he'd felt a little down as well. Ron was unusually quiet, almost thoughtful. Hermione was snappy as she usually was when it was her turn to wear the necklace. In the end, it was Kanda, of all people, to save him from his internal struggle of boredom and anxiousness. He'd only really agreed, at first, because Kanda was going to one of the sparring rooms that he apparently knew was still intact. He'd wanted to see more of the place.

Kanda was a bit more pleasant in privet, when Lavi wasn't being hyperactive and oblivious, and Allen wasn't anywhere around. He found that he could actually get the other to be something akin to enjoyable company (as much as it surprised him) as long as he didn't talk too much, didn't ask any stupid questions (that was hard, because it seemed the other thought of many things as stupid), and was fairly respectful. He taken leaps and bounds today in learning the art of Reading Kanda. Which was amusing because as much as he'd learned, he still knew very little in the grand scheme of things.

He sat up, rubbing his side, glancing around. The place was almost untouched by the destruction that had wreaked havoc everywhere else. It was a very simple room, with a soft, padded floor, and wide open space. He felt... odd, knowing that before the attack, the exorcists had trained in here all the time. It was like sharing person space. Like showing a photo album to a stranger. He didn't even quite understand his own analogies, but that is how he felt.

"Were there more training rooms like this one around?" He asked spontaneously. He glanced at his current companion and noticed how the other rolled his eyes.

"A few," Was all the other said. He decided not to ask about any other kinds of rooms this place had like he wanted to. He was also tempted to ask how big it was, but the question seemed nosy at the moment, though he wasn't sure how. It probably had something to do with how oddly personal it felt to be here, seeing this old and beaten castle which had been a sanctuary to the people in that secret war. It was, he thought suddenly, very similar to Hogwarts. He wondered how he'd be feeling right now if their positions were switched and this castle was Hogwarts instead.

He stood very slowly, letting his body adjust to moving again. He patted himself down and let the dust move into the air; the place hadn't been used for quite a while, after all, and dust had settled everywhere. He watched the exorcist move several paces away, and turn to face him.

"Again."

He wasn't sure whether he was annoyed or neutral. The practice was... well, it could be useful someday. He wasn't all that sure how. After all, if he dueled a Death Eater, chances are that if he'd be defeated, it'd be because he was hit by the killing curse. Though the whole ducking and whatnot part would come in handy there.

He fetched his wand wordlessly. He'd also learned not to complain. Complaining made the other angry and when Kanda was angry, he loses whatever bit of kindness he had to have. Somewhere. Somewhere deep, deep down.

Harry faced the other, holding his only weapon out before him in the typical dueling pose. There was silence as he watched the other frown and watch him in turn. After a moment, instead of attacking, the other began to walk forward, making a vague motion with his hand to hold still. Feeling self conscious, he did, but he couldn't resist asking,

"What?"

Kanda didn't answer, instead coming to stand before him, staring at his wand contemplatively. He began walking around the still wizard,

"This stance. Where did you learn it?"

"Where... uh? School, of course," He winced, but the other didn't seem to notice Harry's slip of annoyance, "It's taught to everyone."

"So this stance is the normal starting point for every wizard?"

"As far as I know. That's how it's taught in my school, and I've never seen anybody go differently. Why?"

He didn't get an answer, but as the other disappeared out of his vision behind him, he felt something nudge the back of his foot. Startled, he moved that foot forward and then felt a sharp poke in his shoulders. He squared them. A moment later, and a hand touched his shoulder, pressing down with enough pressure to make him bend his knees slightly more. His foot was moved up again, and his other foot nudged slightly back. The exorcist came into his vision again, taking hold of his wand arm with one hand while the other bent his elbow, unbent it, and bent it again until the other was satisfied. His other arm, which was generally useless and hung somewhat bent at his side, was moved to a ninety degree angle.

"There are many different Martial Art styles," Kanda began slowly, "And they all have they're strengths and weaknesses, but they all have one thing in common."

Curious as to where he was going with this, Harry hummed to show he was listening.

"They all have stances for offense and defense," The other continued as he stopped, staring at Harry from the front, "I don't know what the advantage to your previous stance was, but I think you should perhaps find something better."

Harry didn't know whether to be insulted that the other was inadvertently insulting his teachers teachings, or grateful the stiotic man was giving such advice without his usual scathing comments. As if the swordsman suddenly realized he was being civil, he snorted and turned away,

"Though I wouldn't be surprised if you made it worse."

Harry rolled his eyes but went over his current stance curiously. He felt strange starting from anything other than what he'd been taught to do. He couldn't tell if it was better or worse, but he committed it to memory the best he could.

Kanda stopped where he'd been before, turning and motioning that he was ready. Feeling adventurous, Harry moved the second the sign was shown.

"Expelliarmus!" Kanda dodged easily, not yet moving forward, giving the other a chance. Harry's eyes narrowed as he fired off a stunning spell, a little surprised when the other abruptly broke his usual pattern and lunged, one fist cocked back in a position to strike.

He did not want to be hit again, as he'd learned the first time it hurt. A lot. Gasping, he threw all his weight backwards, a little surprised at the fact it was a little easier.

"Stupefy!" It almost his the other point blank, but at the last second was dodged in a flurry blur of movement. He stumbled backwards, ducking under the fist that came his way. He was sure that the other wasn't going any easier than usual, and yet the hit seemed to go by just a little slower than the blur that it usually appeared to be. But, as startled as he was by this observation, he was distracted. Seconds later, the wand was knocked viciously from his hand.

He knew from experience that the other never stopped just with disarming him, and so he knew better than to freeze or even pause. He barely moved his head out of the way of the elbow that almost got him in the eye, and out of desperation he threw his fist straight at the exorcist.

Kanda blinked, surprised that the wizard would resort to the physical violence that the other was so sent against. He smirked, easily tapping the side of the fist and knocking it off course.

Harry scowled, letting his momentum carry him forward as if he were surprised to have missed; he wasn't, of course, but it gave him an extra second or two as he continued for the general direction of his wand. His hands were sweating, his heart was going a mile a minute, and he had no idea whether he was going to be hit from behind any second or not. He dove for his wand, and he noticed a leg fly over his head as he did. He grasped the thin stick of wood and swung his arm behind him as well as he could even before he was able to turn his head.

The spell barely missed, it appeared so close that for a split second he thought he'd won. But then he was being restrained painfully and reality caught up with him.

For a moment nothing moved. Then, slowly, the grip was released and he began breathing deeply in order to catch his breath. He coughed a few times, rubbing his throat slowly.

"...That's all," Kanda spoke, sounding surprisingly satisfied, "... for now."

Harry nodded slightly, and he hesitated to stand if he didn't need to. Instead, he watched the other and evened out his breathing, rubbing his sore chest,

"...Uh, okay. Thanks," He wasn't sure what he was thanking the other for, but it slipped out nonetheless.

"Che."

The silence wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it'd be. When he thought it had been long enough though, he stood and dusted himself off again.

"We should head back," He mentioned, "... Maybe the others will have gotten something good to eat while we were gone?"

Hopefully. They'd had rather little to eat lately. Allen always came back with something, and he was always self-sacrificing enough that he never complained that he didn't get any more than anyone else. But it was a lot harder to feed six people on gambling money than it sounded. Ron, in a fit of good mood, had been really excited about explaining every detail of their first outing where Allen had gambled. Apparently, he'd cleaned a couple people straight out, and never lost. Unfortunately, it came to the point where only travelers would go against the exorcist because he face quickly became rather well known to avoid.

"Doubtful," Kanda said, voicing his own thoughts, "And even if they did, the Bean Sprout will have cleaned up everything they'd gotten by now."

Harry shrugged. Maybe, maybe not, he wasn't sure. But he was pretty hungry, and tired. He was filled with a sense of calm serenity. He followed the other towards the door, making sure to shut it behind him because that was how it'd been when they'd arrived. They didn't speak at all on the way back, but he was pretty sure that they were taking a different way back this time. He was a little surprised, but he wasn't about to complain. If he didn't know better, he'd say the other was leading him a different route just so he could see more, like he'd wanted to in the first place.

The halls were deadly silent, and he would normally have been creeped out by it, but for some reason he just couldn't work himself up enough to be. They passed several doors before they came to the stairs. From the bottom of the stairs, they walked on and on, and at one point they passed the dining area. It was the first time he'd seen it, and he couldn't help but peek inside curiously.

It was a very large room, with wooden tables and benches, and he was reminded of an army base. At the other side of the room was a type of window used for ordering things, and he guessed that it was where everyone had gotten their food.

"Everyone ate here?" He asked in awe.

"Unless they took their food elsewhere," Kanda replied in an uncharacteristically tolerant voice.

"There's so much room. There must have been so many people," A thought hit him, and he added, "This place must be a lot bigger than I've seen."

Kanda hummed and Harry figured that was all he was going to get about that. After a moment of staring, he began walking again.

"Allen mentioned there's a very small amount of exorcists," He didn't get much of a response either way, so he guessed the information was correct, "If that's so, who else was here that took up so much room?"

"Scientists and Finders," The exorcist frowned in annoyance, "And before you ask, a Finder is someone too weak to be an exorcist. Someone who wasn't chosen. They look for Innocence so that we don't have to waste out time looking over every rumor of strange happenings."

Harry's mouth closed with a click. He had another question, but he didn't dare ask. Obviously, the other had started to loose his tolerance, and asking more questions would annoy him further. So Harry just made a small noise of acceptance and marched on.

Everyone was already at the camp when they arrived. It had been relatively quiet, though, and yet Lavi threw his hand up into the air and began to wave wildly when they were sighted. When they came closer, the red head leaned forward with a wide grin,

"Oi, decide to join the rest of us again?" He wagged his eyebrows, "You were starting to make me wonder."

"About what?" Kanda growled, a dark look on his face. Lavi's grin faltered,

"Uh, nothing in particular, Yuu."

When Mugan began to slowly be draw, he inched back and added nervously, "That is, I mean, uh, Kanda."

Harry glanced at his best friend, wondering if maybe the other was ready to loosen up. Ron, however, was staring up at the destroyed ceiling with a carefully blank expression, and he didn't seem approachable. Hermione, who sat next to him, didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything other than the book she was reading, though sometimes it seemed at if she were focused on something beyond the book. So instead, he sat a little ways on Ron's other side and next to Allen instead.

"How's your leg?" He asked the younger boy. He noticed from the corner of his eyes Ron suddenly frown.

"Oh! Much better today, thank you for asking," Allen replied politely, "I think it may heal just fine on it's own."

He shifted his wounded leg as if to make a point. It was wrapped heavily, and a crutch transfigured from some wood lay at his side.

"That's good." Harry nodded, for lack of anything better to say.

"I hope Kanda wasn't too rough with you," Allen continued, "I know that he could go a little... overboard."

"Overboard?" In contrary, the other had seemed in perfect control of every move he made, as well of his own strength, "No, I don't think so. I'm sore, but that's hardly a surprise. It was really good the floor was padded."

"Yes, well. Even padded, you could get hurt. Just let me know if he goes too far," Allen got a look in his eyes that Harry was starting to attribute to 'Black Allen', "I'd be glad to.. rectify that problem."

"And what could you do?" Kanda cut in, "Throw your crutch at me?"

"Whoa whoa, down boy!" Lavi exclaimed, laughed slightly, "Come on, that's no way to treat someone who doesn't heal as fast as you do, Yuu."

"I could," Allen ignored his red headed friend, "Or, I could just throw things at you all day instead. Preferably small, sharp, pointy things."

Harry hid a small grin. He, caught up in his amusement, glanced at his friends as he always did at moments like these. He blinked, startled, his smile faltering when he saw Ron full-on glaring at him.

"What?" He asked in confusion. He wasn't sure – had he done something wrong?

"What?" Ron mimicked, and noise quieted down, "Are you talking to little ol' me?"

"What?" Harry wasn't sure what was going on, and could think of no better word to describe his thoughts. There had to be something going on that he wasn't aware of.

"Oh, don't mind me. I don't want to spoil your fun."

Still confused, Harry looked to Hermione, who had looked up from her book with a small little frown on her face. She didn't make any sign she knew what the attack was for either, but he wasn't so sure at the moment. It wasn't like she was jumping in to defend Harry, who was clueless, like she usually did when Ron wasn't making any sense.

"Is there a problem?" His eyebrows furrowing together, he was aware that the background noise had faded completely and Allen and Lavi were looking between them worriedly.

"...Problem? Is there a _problem_?" Ron looked like he'd genuinely start laughing any second, "Here we are in the middle of a destroyed base of an organization that couldn't care whether we live or die, half-starving, cold, and no closer to ending this god-forsaken 'mission' than when we'd started, and he asks if _there's a __problem_?"

Harry looked at Allen, who shrugged helplessly, and Lavi, who shook his head. He had no idea why the sudden anger, out of nowhere, and the other wasn't even wearing the locket! He felt irritation rising in himself as he replied, "Did you think it would be any different? Did you think we'd be done in a week or two, before Christmas?"

"Of course not!" Ron exclaimed angrily, "But it's not like we're moving any closer to what we're trying to do! Not today, not yesterday, not tomorrow! We've got one Horcrux, and yet we've got no way of destroying it! The one thing you _can_ think of to destroy it is who-know-where, and it's just another thing to add to the list of things we have to find! With no clues, no food, no nothing!"

Harry felt his dread, but he also felt his irritation turning into anger. Ron wasn't wearing the locket – everything he was saying was completely of his own free will, everything he said was all things he'd thought and felt, truly. And this... this couldn't be left unsaid.

"Did you think it would be easy?" He spat back, back tense and his good mood gone, "What did you think Ron, what part isn't living up to your expectations?"

"We thought you knew what you were doing!" Ron was shouting now, standing up in his anger, and the words fell like stones, sinking into Harry's mind, "We thought Dumbledore told you what to do, we thought you had a plan!"

"A plan?" He stood as well, ignoring how their forms seemed to suddenly tower over everyone else, "I've told you everything I knew from the very start. I don't know anything more than you do. I've always told you everything – but it seems that's not the case with you, is it?"

He was aware that Hermione had set aside her book, and her eyes flashed with something unrecognizable. But she wasn't standing, wasn't arguing, wasn't telling them to calm down, and he knew she had something to say too. She wasn't even frightened, or angry, like she should be.

"What are you talking about?" Ron hissed, but Harry hardly heard him,

"You think I wouldn't notice? You were hardly discreet. Both of you whispering behind my back, but never once did you tell me anything. Did you think I wouldn't guess you were saying things like _this_?"

"We weren't-" Hermione started, for the first time entering the conversation as she slowly stood to complete their trio, "Not like that-"

"Don't lie!" Ron shouted at her, "You said it too! That you were disappointed, that you thought he'd know what he was doing, that he had a _clue_-"

"If you're both so disappointed in me, why are you still here?" Harry accused, watching both as they glared at him, at each other, at the world.

"We said we would-" Hermione started, but Ron cut her off,

"You know what? That's the first sensible thing you've said. I don't know."

"Then go home," Harry said scathingly, "Go home. Go back to your safe little home, let your mommy feed you up and you can sleep in a nice warm bed, and you can talk to all your friends, and laugh and play, and not give a _damn_ about what we were trying to do!"

"And when were we trying to do something?! When we were sleeping? When we were trying to gather enough food to survive? We went to the Ministry, and we were nearly killed! That's all we've done, that's hardly amounting to anything, and we haven't taken a single step forward!"

"And maybe I will!" Ron continued, yelling and moving forward, "It's hardly safe there at all, remember, it was already attacked once! What makes you think they're all okay now, when they've got the ministry breathing down their necks and mental things like Akuma roaming around!? But you don't care, do you, Harry I've-faced-worse Potter doesn't care because what he's doing is so much more important-"

"'So much more important'?!" Harry interrupted angrily, "Did you forget what we're doing?! It _is_ more important-"

"Of course you'd say so," Ron interrupted him as well, "After all, you don't have a family to worry about, huh? So it doesn't matter to you that my own family could die, because you've already been there and done that, right?!"

Harry went very still. No matter what fights they had ever had... never had Ron crossed that line. He was vaguely aware that Hermione had realized the line had been brutally crossed as well, for she turned to look at Ron angrily. But Harry didn't care, couldn't bring himself to, and all he knew for a moment was the sensation of falling.

"If that's what you think, then maybe you _should just __**go**_!" He finally managed to shout. His bellow, after the short amount of silence, seemed even louder, more intimidating, than before, "Both of you, since you both seem to agree-"

Hermione snapped her attention back, startled and yet not denying it. Her slightly hurt stare was probably what set Ron off.

The Weasly went for his wand, his face contorting angrily, and Harry did the same. Ironically, it was Kanda's 'lessons' that enabled him to duck quick enough to avoid the first spell whose word he'd missed. Before he could do the same, though, Hermione stepped between them,

"_Protego_!"

The spell stopped the spell Harry had barely managed to fire, and it forced Hermione to step back as well. Harry just stared for several long seconds, listening internally to what sounded like glass breaking. Piece by piece falling to shatter into several more pieces.

"Leave," He said simply, not being able to stomach staring at this in the face for much longer.

"Fine," Ron turned to Hermione, eyes narrowed, "What are you doing? Are you staying or what?"

Hermione hesitated, her expression conflicted,

"We said we'd-" Her weak sentence was cut off by him.

"What for? He's got new friends now," He sent a glare at the exorcists' area before quickly looking away, but Hermione still hesitated so he added, "After all, we'd just get in the way now, right?"

Harry saw the shift in the girls eyes. He knew that normal, level headed, loyal witch was being warped by the Horcrux, but he thought at that moment that things might be better this way. He'd been wondering at the wiseness at his friends being there just a few days ago, and so he looked at them long and hard. It didn't matter. Something had broken between them all, and if it was repairable, now wasn't the time anyway.

"Leave the Horcrux," He said calmly, and the girl started.

He didn't want to see them leave. So he turned and he walked away, the sound of his shoes echoing slightly. He moved away, further and further, and in the back of his mind he half-expected to hear someone running after him.

Nobody did though.

He stopped in some hallway a ways away he'd passed through just a little while ago. His back hit the wall and he grit his teeth angrily. He felt his frustration growing, his hollowness in his chest, and he slid down the wall to sit on the ground.

What would he find when he went back? Would they still be there? Would Hermione, maybe, have stayed behind? If they were gone, was this saving their lives? He had so many questions, he could probably write a book of them. He sat there for a long time, feeling as if her were truly drowning amongst these feelings of self-anger and depression, uselessness, failure. What was the point? Not to mention that some of the things Ron had said were true.

By the time he wandered back to the camp, he was tired and he was sure it had been quite a while. He was fairly dazed when he walked up to it, and Allen stood as he approached. The exorcist waited until he was closer before he held out the locket. As it hung, it glinted maliciously.

"They're gone," He murmured softly, but Harry didn't hear.

The last piece fell and shattered, and just like that he was alone.

__--*--__

A/N: Really need to stop doing these things last minute. Ugh. I'm tired. There was something I wanted to say at the end of this, but I can't remember what it was. Oh well. Anyways, next chapter is a new arc, and I think I might like it better. Hope everyone enjoyed (Ongoing dialog is hard~)

Review please, they keep me going :D


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Chapter 20 already? That's crazy. I've never made it to 20 before (Heck, I never got past Ten Thousand words before, and here I am at over eighty!!!)

A lot of people were surprised that Hermione left as well, when originally in the book she stayed with Harry. I don't think it's completely impossible for her character (Well, at least when she's scared out of her wits of Akuma and recently Allen) and it'll be so much easier to focus on only Harry and his development without the other two as well.

Anyways, there's a bit of a surprise here (A lot of people mentioned wanting to see it happen, and I had already planned on it happening, anyway.)

_Edit_: This chapter has been edited and revised.

__--*--__

Neither Ron nor Hermione returned that night, or the night after. The third night was hopeful, since they had had time to themselves, but still they remained missing. On the forth night Harry had to conclude that they were gone, and whatever the case, he couldn't waste anymore time wallowing around.

He had a lot of time to himself, since the exorcists were carefully giving him his own space, which was hard to get when you're the Chosen One and stuck hiding out. He had come to one conclusion: Things were better off this way. Ron and Hermione were not necessarily out of harms way, but they were just a little safer. Plus, they could watch out for and inform everyone else of the things they had learned. Knowing that things were better this way, though, did not mean he wasn't hurt. He was plenty hurt, and no matter how much he told himself it was for the better, his feelings didn't change.

He took all his frustration out on Kanda, who had wordlessly started a bit of a small sparring session everyday. He had been so angry that first night he hadn't ever reached for his wand, merely throwing his fists around as well as he could with the need to simply _hit _something. It had been shockingly refreshing, the bruises were even worth it. He had sparred with Lavi as well, after a bit of a worried argument about the redheads health, and he'd been angry enough to accept Lavi's claim that the injuries might even the playing field. It hadn't really, but it had been a little better fighting someone a little less ruthless than Kanda. He couldn't really find it in himself to be even a little annoyed that he couldn't hold a candle to even someone with severe injuries. The exorcist's other worldliness was well established and accepted by now.

Allen had been healing nicely, or so it seemed, but Harry's knowledge of healing was limited enough that he didn't feel quite relieved. The other still couldn't walk on his knee, of course, and putting any pressure on it was extremely painful but manageable.

On the fifth night, Harry found himself walking back to the camp feeling a little better. Well, emotionally he felt better; physically was another matter. His right fist was bruised today, having finally gotten his very first hit on Kanda. He'd been so shocked at the time, and guilty too because he hadn't really ever expected to succeed, he'd partly frozen and received a nice uppercut. That still hurt a lot, and he'd been really close to biting his tongue, but he still felt as if he had finally accomplished _something_.

At the camp, Allen and Lavi were talking in whispers, which was quickly becoming a pet peeve of Harry's. They sat close together, and had such serious expressions, that he feared something had gone wrong in the couple hours he'd been gone. Coming closer, they did not automatically quiet or freeze. Nor did they try pasting a fake grin on their faces, and instead they waved him over. Startled, he moved closer and knelt down next to Allen, mostly to examine the boy's movements.

"Something wrong?" He asked cautiously. Part of him still expected to get the same treatment he had from Ron and Hermione.

"Not wrong, per se," Lavi replied, motioning for Kanda to come over as well, "But well. We've been thinking, and Allen brings up a good point."

"Doubtful," Kanda snorted as he knelt down as well, "The Bean Sprouts 'good ideas' are just a myth."

"If only I could say the same about your existence," Allen tilted his nose up with a glare, "BaKanda."

Harry had no idea what kind of insult 'BaKanda' was, but he just shrugged it off as he had learned to do at these moments.

"What kind of point?" He moved to an Indian style position because the kneeling was hurting his already sore knees. He tugged at Allen's sleeve to get his attention, and the boy gave one last glare to the Japanese before switching a polite smile to the wizard.

"Well, see, we can't stay here forever, right?" Lavi nodded, as if answering himself, "Of course, we've been staying here to heal before taking the next step. But I think it's time to start looking at our options."

"And what options are those?" Harry frowned, putting his chin in his palm and setting his elbow on his leg, "I can't imagine we have very many at all. I mean, I don't know where to start, not now..."

He bit his lip, and there was an uncomfortable silence before Allen announced, "I thought that it might be a good idea to go back to headquarters."

Harry's head snapped upwards fast enough that his neck cracked audibly.

"We didn't go there in the first place because we're not really suppose to bring you back except as a last resort," Lavi rushed to explain, "'Course, this isn't quite a last resort, but it's probably the best choice for us right now."

"How is going back there helpful to me?" Harry's frown deepened, "And I don't think it's a good idea for a lot of people to know where I am."

"True!" The redhead exclaimed, thrusting his finger in the air, "But! You don't need to worry about being ratted out. Everyone's loyal as heck, and we'd still be around anyway. If we go back, there's food, bed, and it won't be cold."

"The Order has a library," Allen continued, "You can search for clues there, plus you'd be safe. Not to say you're stuck there – if you get a lead, we'll leave and check it out. It's just somewhere to recover and return to."

Harry hesitated. He wasn't even sure why. It wasn't because he didn't want to leave this spot – as interesting as the place was, it was not by any means comfortable. The people... well, that was making him uneasy, but that was not enough to make him hesitate.

"What are the other options?"

The exorcists glanced at each other.

"Well, there's staying here. Or there's going from town to town, staying at Inns."

He didn't like either option, really. He hummed in thought, but came up short for reasons why he shouldn't go to the headquarters they spoke of. Staying at an Inn wasn't even a real option, since he refused it immediately, and staying here really accomplished nothing. Especially if they had a more helpful and comfortable option available.

"I guess... I guess the Order is the best bet. But are you sure it's...?"

He didn't know what he'd put there. Safe? Alright? Smart?

"Perfect!" Lavi smiled enthusiastically, "You'll like it there, I promise. I say we leave in the morning, would that be good?"

Allen nodded agreeably, while Kanda shrugged carelessly. Harry gave a minute nod as well, though he was still unsure.

They ate very little that night. Sleeping was difficult, and Harry kept tossing and turning until he slipped into unconsciousness. When he finally did, it was still fitful, and unrestful. He did not dream, and he woke at every little sound he'd heard throughout the night.

The morning was depressing because he was so tired, even when he'd slept in a little more. He didn't even remember that unlike all the others, this morning was different. When he saw them instead getting things together, he felt a little lost for a moment, before he remembered.

"No breakfast?" He asked, though he didn't think they had anything to eat anyway.

"We'll get some in town," Allen explained as he rummaged through his suitcase. He glanced up briefly and added, "You should dress warmly. It's rather cold out today."

Harry didn't actually have much in the way of warm clothing. A fair bit had been left behind in the tent, and all he had left that was suited to the weather was a couple scarves, and two sweaters. He grabbed one of the sweaters though, along with a pair of pants he wasn't sure was clean or not, and moved behind some rubble that they all treated as the area to change in. He changed quickly, as the air really was cold now. When he was done, he went back to the area he'd slept in, grabbing his blanket and shoving it with the rest of his clothes. He glanced up when he saw Lavi and Kanda approaching, and he blinked several times.

He'd never gotten any kind of a good look at their uniforms before – in the beginning, it'd been too dark, and afterward they had been too worn, damaged, and hidden underneath cloaks. Now he could see them, black and red, and reminiscent of a military uniform only more personalized. He wasn't sure he could think of a word to describe them, really.

Lavi's was really fitting for him, and the scarf was surprising and yet it looked to belong there. Kanda's long uniform was perfect for him, and he wondered what he would look like in robes.

"How're you feeling?" Lavi asked as he neared, "Ready to go?"

"I'm okay, I guess. Tired, I didn't sleep so well," Harry shrugged, "Ready as I ever will be, I guess. Those are your exorcist uniforms?"

"Oh yeah!" The redhead grinned wide, tugging at the bottom of the coat, "Pretty cool, huh? They all look different too."

"Speaking of uniforms," Allen spoke up as he stood, maneuvering carefully with his crutch, "I'm going to change into mine and then we can go to town."

"What's the point in going to town?" Kanda argued.

"Well food, of course. A little fresh air. Time to contact Komui as well."

"We can eat at HQ," He insisted, "And you should have contacted the sister-complex yesterday, idiot Bean Sprout."

"Yeah well," Allen moved toward the area Harry had changed at just moments ago, "If it was so important, you should've done it yourself."

Before another argument could break out, Lavi waved his arms in the air, shaking his head slightly.

"Now now, children, no need to fret!" He winked before throwing an arm around Harry's shoulders, "It's better this way. Komui won't have time to tell us no, after all, or contact anybody, but enough time to get ready."

"That doesn't seem like a good idea, if it gets him in trouble," Harry frowned thoughtfully, "Maybe we should wait a while?"

"Nah, it'll be fine," Lavi replied, his grin never wavering, "Just wait and see."

From behind the rubble he was at, Allen's crutch fell noisily, and they heard a small sound of surprise.

"Need any help back there?" Lavi called in amusement, "I mean, it almost sounds like you-"

"Shut up!" Allen exclaimed, reappearing as he still buttoned the front of his coat, "Stupid Lavi."

"Hey," The other pouted, "That hurts."

"Who cares?" Kanda snipped, "Hurry it up."

Harry rose an eyebrow as the white haired exorcist wandered over, leaning on his crutch, using his other hand to run through his hair. He gave a small smile, which was returned.

"The exit is still intact, isn't it?" Allen tugged his collar down and into place, "The underground one, that is?"

"I dunno," Lavi shrugged, "We all left using the Ark, but I imagine that it was alright when we left. The finders who were out had to gather here and be transported as well, so they knew where the new one was."

"A lot of things could have happened between the time we've been gone though," The other murmured thoughtfully, "And none of us want to go scaling the mountain."

"Mountain?" Harry blinked several times, "We're on top of a mountain?"

"Yeah. A really, really, tall mountain. Allen should know, since he climbed it the first time he came here, even though he didn't have to."

"I didn't know!" The other exclaimed, "Master never told me there was another entrance on ground level!"

"What, did you think everyone who came and went climbed it?" Kanda snorted, "You're even more idiotic than I thought."

"You-! BaKanda!"

Harry ignored them, instead bending down to gather his things. He opened his bag and shuffled through it, mentally making sure he had everything he'd come there with. Near the bottom, he found his golem, curled up with it's wings wrapped around itself. He pulled it out, vaguely remembering that it was in power-save mode, and he idly checked it over as well. It sprang to life the moment he turned it over in his hands, staring up at him eerily.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Lavi interrupted, "Let's get going."

Harry stood, offering the bag to the golem to sleep in some more, but it just clicked a couple times and plopped down on his shoulder. He almost shrugged, but stifled the action before he dislodged the strange creature. Shutting his bag, he threw it over his other shoulder and turned to the rest of the group. It was a good thing that Hermione had left behind their things, or else things would have been even more annoyingly difficult.

Lavi lead the way, while Kanda walked in the back. Harry stayed beside Allen, who poked at Timcampy when the golden golem started gnawing on the crutch. They walked through several long hallways, carefully avoiding rubble and the areas that Lavi pointed out were probably weak.

Harry was less nervous about traveling in such a bad building than he felt he should have been, but he was too preoccupied looking around, even if more often than not there was nothing to see. They passed the cafeteria again, which Allen sent a longing stare at, as well as the personal quarters that was pointed out to a curious Harry.

They traveled through a long hallway that looked as if it had been magnificent at one point in time. Everything appeared to have been white at some point, and there had been carving in the walls that were mostly worn away or destroyed. Eventually they reached the underground exit/entrance, and Harry continued through the long staircase, wondering just how big this place was.

Toward the bottom they reached a water-way, but there were no boats ready for them. Thankfully, there was another way out by foot, and so they took that instead.

Outside was a forest, but he was told the town wasn't all that far away. He quietly worried for Allen, but the boy wasn't having trouble with his crutch, and there wasn't any signs of pain. Once outside, he did bother to look back out of curiosity, only to find the tallest mountain he'd seen in a long time. The walk down it hadn't even seemed all that long, he wondered. And at the top was a castle that was many times taller than Hogwarts, though part of it was caved in and in very bad shape. It look completely foreboding. Not at all welcoming or like the base of a large organization that fought evil creatures. Not at all like the sanctuary that he'd imagined it to be, either.

The walk to town was indeed a short one.

The town was not very big, and it seemed fairly old fashioned to Harry. Nobody sent them strange looks when they emerged from the trees to join with the early morning traffic of people. The people themselves were generally uninterested in any of them, which he found rather odd. Disregarding the fact that he was used to being stared at and whatnot, the exorcists were a strange sight on on their own.

Allen nudged him, asking his quietly if something was wrong.

"Wrong? Well, not exactly. It just seems strange to me that nobody seems to think us... strange..."

"The people here are use to strange visitors coming and going," Lavi explained, "So they're used to us enough that's it's not really all that strange."

Harry made a small hum in the back of his throat before the another spoke again,

"Why don't you and Allen go ahead and get some money, while Yuu and I get a hold of Komui," Lavi suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Allen grinned, the beginnings of shadow taking over his face, "We won't be too long."

And they really weren't long at all. Harry was amazed at just how well the other could cheat. Even though he knew already what the other was doing, he couldn't spot any sign the other was playing unfairly. His opponents were sorely out matched and also sore losers. They handed over the money they had lost only after a bit of persuasion on the exorcists part.

Harry found the other two afterward, sitting in a small park on a bench. When they drew near, Lavi stood with only a small grin.

"Oi, how'd it go?"

Allen wordlessly held up his winnings, and the redhead whistled,

"Not bad!"

"Did you talk to your boss?" Harry asked, paranoid and glancing around every once in a while. None of the others seemed to share his suspicion, but he couldn't help that he almost expected a Death Eater to jump out at them any second.

"Yeah. Komui doesn't really mind, surprisingly, but he said that we have to go the old fashioned way."

"As in...?"

"As in, not the Ark," Lavi sighed slightly, "Apparently, Allen's in trouble for using it before, and since this isn't an emergency, he urged us not to use it again."

"Well whatever. We'll just have to be careful and pay attention to what's around us," Allen didn't seem at all perturbed that he was supposedly in trouble. Harry frowned, not liking the possibilities that could take place.

They ate at a small restaurant, Allen paying their way and spending everything they had, considering how much the boy ate. Afterward, Harry worried about how they would go to the Head Quarters with no money, but he discovered that the Black Order apparently had contacts in the outside world. They got on a train for free, and even had a compartment all to themselves. The train didn't mysteriously crash or get hijacked, like Harry had unreasonably worried might happen, and the trip was actually quite comfortable.

They unboarded the train they had rode most of the day, only to board on another almost directly afterward. That train ride was spent sleeping. The plush seats of the train wasn't very comfortable, and yet it was heavenly when compared to the rubble they had slept on before.

The train ride after that was after they spent a few hours waiting for the next train to arrive. Harry had been bored, and he'd been feeling rather stiff from all the sitting and doing nothing. Lavi had suggested taking a walk, and he had agreed it was a good idea, but he had wanted a moment or two to himself, so he had made it a little too clear that he wanted to go at it alone. Thankfully, none of the exorcists had followed him.

The people were mostly quiet and not nosy at all, unlike what Harry was use to. They might have even been kind, but he didn't feel up to starting a conversation with somebody he didn't really know. The train station was the biggest place in town, so he had a fair bit to explore and see. Of course, he always kept one eye open for any strange behavior or anybody that might possibly be following him. One hand was always on his wand.

When he'd been busy looking around, he accidentally knocked into somebody. Startled, he stumbled backwards, managing to keep himself upright, but the other person was not quite so lucky.

It was a girl who was several years younger than him. She had landed backwards which a startled _oomph_, a frown on her face.

"Oh! I'm really sorry," He apologized, "I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking."

He really must not have been, since he couldn't recall anyone standing in his way for several seconds before the collision. The girl turned her face up and the frown was replaced by a wide, sweet smile,

"It's okay, I do it all the time!" She held a hand out, and he blinked before inwardly cursing himself for not offering to help her up before. He took her hand, tugging her up perhaps a little too hard when she was indeed yanked up fast enough that she collided with his chest. She was really tiny, a small petite girl that blinked at him owlishly,

"Sorry!" He blushed, unsurprised that the girl could be hauled around so easily. He was startled when she smiled wide and exclaimed,

"I don't mind, you're pretty handsome."

His eyebrows shot up and he wondered idly if he should be blushing when an obviously young girl complimented his looks.

"Er, thanks. I guess."

"No problem!" She backed up a step and he got a good look at her. She was shorter than him by a good head or two, with dark, spiky hair. Her hand was particularly pale when she held it out to him yet again, "I'm Road."

"Oh, uh," He hesitated to release his name. He awkwardly shook her hand before blurting out, "Barny."

He inwardly insulted himself. He'd hated the name when he used it at the Weasly's wedding, and he hated it even more now. He didn't even look like a Barny!

The girls eyes flashed with surprise, and he wondered why, but then her smile grew impossibly wide and she nodded decisively. Sweetly, she asked,

"I'm a little lost, Barny, so do you think you can help me? I'm here with my uncle, but I seem to have lost track of him!"

Her pout was cute, but something about her seemed off. Feeling even more paranoid by talking to somebody other than the exorcists in his precarious position, he felt the urge to get back to them quickly. He couldn't help feeling a little annoyed with himself, though, that he felt that way just because of a younger girl, who had done nothing wrong and seemed nice enough.

"Sorry, but I'm not really from around here. I'm just waiting for the next train."

"That's too bad," Though she didn't seem particularly upset or disappointed, "I was hoping I'd finally found somebody to play with."

He blinked. Road looked young, surely, but the manner of speech was fit for someone much younger. Play with...? That didn't seem right.

"I thought you just wanted somebody to help you look for your uncle?" He asked while glancing around, wondering if he'd get lucky and Lavi would show up looking for him.

"But that's so boring!" The girl insisted, "Are you sure you don't have a little time to spare?"

"Not really, I should be getting back," He took a step away, "Sorry. My time had been really limited lately."

He looked at her as she turned away, but when she spoke her voice was deeper, and somehow had a distinctive sadistic edge to it,

"Not just limited, though. Soon, you won't have any at all."

Startled, he stared after her as she skipped off into the crowd. Her form was gone within seconds, even though there weren't all that many people around. He was only lost in his feeling of eeriness for a moment before he began taking long steps back to where he'd left the others. He was filled with the irrational fear that they would be gone, leaving him behind just as his friends had several days ago.

But when he turned the corner, his chest tight, he ran right into somebody else. Strangely, he recognized the chest he'd collided with almost instantly, having spent such a long time in close quarters with it. Taking a step back, he found Kanda glaring down at him.

"Sorry," He mentally grouched at having run into somebody twice in the past ten minutes.

"What's got you coming back in such a rush?" The Japanese asked gruffly. Harry scrambled for an answer that didn't sound ridiculous.

"I wasn't in a rush," He defended, "Where were _you_ going?"

The attempt at changing the subject was rather feeble, but the other thankfully let it go.

"The idiot rabbit was getting worried about you, and I couldn't stand his pacing."

"I wasn't gone that long, though."

"'Not long' is often equal to 'possibly dead.'"

Harry wasn't surprised by that, but he did feel a little better knowing that somebody had worried over him. He did wonder, though, if that was genuine worry or not. The other abruptly turned away, leading him back to where the other two were waiting. He followed quickly, not wanted to be left behind. When they approached, Lavi grinned in relief,

"Ah, sorry about that, I thought a walk would be good for all of us, but it just made me more nervous."

"Guess it wasn't such a good idea after all," Harry agreed.

The train didn't arrive for another ten minutes, but this time Harry was much more content to sit and wait. When it did arrive, they once again got their own compartment. He spent his time thinking and sleeping, sometimes he talked with the others. Mostly he just slept.

What bugged him was the dream he had then. He was glad it wasn't a nightmare or worse, a vision, but the whole thing just seemed off, somehow.

It started out with him back in the Gryffindor dorm room, sitting on the edge of his bed. At the time, he didn't really remember his current position, or about the Akuma and exorcists. He had felt a vague notion that something was very wrong, that itching feeling that something bad was about to happen. He had felt it enough times right before his dreams turned into a nightmares, but he hadn't recognized it right away.

Nobody else was around, and he thought that maybe it meant that nobody was around the castle either. He felt that if he were to step out of the dorms, the common room would be empty too, and he didn't feel like leaving yet. He had wandered to the window, which was strangely covered up. The sheet covering the window had a strange symbol on it – an elegant cross that he never remembered seeing before. Etched into the stone crudely, was three more crosses on either side, through much simpler.

He moved the sheet aside, ignoring when it came loose. He let it float to the ground, his gaze fixed outside. There were Akuma everywhere, floating off into the distance. For some reason he didn't find this strange at all. Their bullets rained down around them, destroying all there was to see. A voice spoke directly behind him,

"Isn't it simply beautiful?"

He spun, not feeling as alarmed as he should, and he found the girl, Road, from the train station. Behind her, next to the dorm door, was another door that hadn't been there before. It was large, and ornate, and he'd never seen a door like it before.

"Isn't it Har~ry?"

"No," He blurted, his head feeling dizzy and he couldn't think straight. She blinked before smirking,

"You know, Harry, you're pretty interesting."

"I don't want to be interesting," He replied, not sure why he was admitting such a small thing.

"No? But Harry, you're famous!"

"Stop saying my name," He'd said, feeling annoyed and for some reason victorious. Road giggled, pulling a lollipop from nowhere and licking it,

"You really are interesting. Though I would rather Al~len be dreaming about me instead..."

He almost felt as though he knew what she was talking about, not remembering any Allen, but then the feeling was gone and he was only confused.

"Oh well," She sighed dramatically, "Take what you can get, I suppose. Say, Harry, you like to fly, don't you?"

That was the first moment in which he acknowledged that nagging feeling something was wrong. He hadn't answered, frowning and trying to clear his head, but to no avail.

Then, suddenly, her hand was on his chest, and time seemed to slow. Everything was clear, as if he were awake, and then she pushed. He tumbled out the window, his head leading the way to the ground. As he looked up, his head and chest tight, he found they sky a blood red, and the tower was too far for him to see her face anymore. It was fine though, because it was suddenly reflected in the moon, staring down at him. She laughed, and it was almost as if she were right beside him.

"_You're time is running out, Har~ry."_

Then the ground opened up and swallowed him whole.

__--*--__

A/N: At first things seemed really rushed to me, but I kinda like the dream sequence. Huh. You know, it would be fun to do a story making Harry a Noah, I think, though I'm not doing that in this one. It's probably just because I like the Noah's though.

Anyways, hope you like, and please review!


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Mmm. Why must I make it so difficult for myself and keep waiting until the last minute? D: Barely even getting this one out!

__--*--__

Harry sighed softly as he glanced around warily. He was feeling somewhat nervous – after they had ridden a fair amount of trains, they had departed from the last town and started walking. Mostly, all he really saw was a forest, but it seemed rather ridiculous that they had been walking so long in the middle of nowhere. On top of that, they were lost. Completely, irrevocably lost.

And on top of that, he was freezing.

Rubbing his hands together, he stuffed them under his arms in an attempt to warm himself. He was shaking, and he had been clenching his teeth hard enough to stop them from chattering that his jaws were sore.

"This is stupid," Kanda growled violently, kicking a stray branch, "How could you have gotten us lost already, you stupid, idiotic rabbit?!"

"I never said we were lost!" Lavi insisted, following the shortest exorcist through the trees, "It's just, well, we always used the ark, right? So it's not like I had a chance to familiarize myself with the area – I know the general area the base is at, and I thought it would be easy to find."

A branch snapped back, and he barely ducked in time. Staring up at Allen with hurt eyes, he pouted.

"Admit it," Allen replied calmly, "You have no idea where we are. Besides, if it was 'easy' to find, don't you think we would have been discovered by the Earl by now?"

Lavi opened his mouth and shut it, his pout increasing. Harry rolled his eyes. He'd tried a Point Me spell hours ago, but it had kept spinning in circles, and he had to guess that there was either some kind of interference, or magical wards around the base.

"Isn't there any way to track it down? It'll be lunch soon, at this rate we'll be wandering forever!"

He tried to hide his bitterness, but it still emerged as annoyance. He couldn't even feel his toes anymore! Kanda snorted, his eyebrow twitching sporadically.

"What do you think we've been trying to do?" Kanda snapped, more irritable that usual, "Just shut up."

Harry's eyes narrowed – his mood was quickly deteriorating enough that he was almost attempted to do the stupid, and argue with the swordsman. His feet sore, he wondered what would happen if he demanded a break or something, but he was interrupted before he could decide,

"It is unusual though – it shouldn't be quite so hard to find," Allen mused, "I mean, I travled there by boat in order to make a gate before anyone else went there, but we had gone by sea, so that doesn't help me now."

"Useless," Kanda muttered, ignoring the way the other snapped his head around with a glare.

"Hey wait!" Lavi suddenly exclaimed, "Shh! ...Hear that?"

Immediately, they all stilled. They strained their hearing, staying absolutely still. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. Harry frowned when he thought he heard something, some kind of cutting noise. Seconds passed before suddenly, a figure zoomed over the top of the trees, much to fast to make out properly.

His first instict was that it was Death Eaters, and he almost dove to the forest floor in panic, but Lavi grabbed his shoulder and gave a big grin. Startled, he Frowned questioningly, but then the figure appeared over the trees again, stopping right over them.

"Lenalee!" Allen exclaimed loudly. Moments later, the person dropped down gracefully, landing right in the the middle of their midst. They straightened up, and Harry got the surprise of his life.

He hadn't expected it to be a girl, if her were to be honest with himself – and she wore a uniform that, though certainly different from the other three, was definitely that of an exorcist. She was also extremely pretty – beautiful maybe even. She frowned at them,

"Just what were you doing? Did you plan on wandering all day?"

"Lenalee!" Lavi launched himself at her, wrapping his arms around her waist and sobbing pathetically, "Oh, my savior, I'll never doubt you again!"

"You knew we were lost?" Allen asked, despite the stars in his eyes that Harry could have sworn he'd seen.

"Well yes," She blinked, patting the red head with a slight smile, shifting the bundle she was holding into another hand, "We have security camera's all around the area. Brother and some of the other's was kinda getting a kick out of watching you."

"That stupid sister-complex!" Kanda snarled, "I'll-"

"Now now, Kanda," She admonished, "Don't be so temperamental."

"You try being stuck cramped together with these idiots for weeks at a time," He snapped.

Harry tilted his head as she noticed him. She blinked, then smiled at him so sweetly that he couldn't help but to blush. She disentangled herself and moved over to him, and as she neared, he noticed that not only she was quite possibly younger than him, she was Chinese. He blinked as well, surprised, and was reminded of Cho Chang, but then the though was gone as she held out a hand,

"Hello. I'm Lenalee Lee, exorcist. You must be Harry Potter – I've heard about you."

"Er, yeah," He gingerly shook her hand, annoyed that it seemed as if everybody had heard of him before he'd even met them, "Nice to meet you."

She circled around him when he let go, and he was surprised when she unraveled the bundle she'd been carrying and set it on his shoulders – it was a cloak very similar to the ones that the exorcist wore. He found that yes, it really was warmer than it looked.

"It must have been difficult, putting up with these knuckleheads," She told him with a smile, "Lets hurry and get you inside."

"Thank you," He said, and he meant it.

She nodded before turning to the others with a stern stare,

"Brother told me to tell you that the infirmary has been prepped for all of you – the Matron is going to give you all a check up, and then you have a meeting to talk with him."

Lavi and Allen groaned softly, while Kanda considered himself above such things; Though Harry still caught his twitch of apprehension.

Lenalee led the way, and he was quickly warming up. Granted, his feet were still really cold, he was still sore all over, and he was getting really hungry, but things were starting to look up. Soon, he'd be in a warm, saft environment. Soon, he'd be at the Headquarters.

Though he didn't know just how good of a thing that was.

It didn't even take them that long to some upon the place. If he hadn't gone to Hogwarts for so many years, he would have been blown away. As it was, he was still amazed. It was huge, a castle of it's own write, but it was pure white; it almost seemed to glow under the sun. While Hogwarts had been so amazing partially due to that aura of extremely old age, this place seemed holy – powerful. It was not mystically old, but it held a different kind of intimidation.

Lenalee caught him staring and smiled again, merely motioning for his to go first. He did, and he walked with them up the the front gate, for the term 'door' seemed much too small. It opened up slowly, and he thought that they must have been made of something very heavy, some kind of stone for sure. It was Kanda who took the front, leading them inside.

The front hall was made of white marble, this he found to be more than amazing. On some of the grand pillars, there were carvings that seemed perfect, a work of art. There were other pieces of art on the walls as well, from tapestries and carvings, to pictures and bodies of armor that lined the halls much like his old school.

They walked though a couple of hallways, each one holding beauty just as much as the last, and Harry could hardly pay attention to anything else around him, including the conversation the exorcists were having. At one point the entered a huge room, something fit the be a 'Great Hall' of it's own, and his breath caught.

They were up on a type of balcony, overlooking the whole thing. Ignoring the white wash walls, floor, and ceiling, there were more suits of armor. There was a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling, made of some kind of crystal. It took the light and shone with all kinds of colors, throwing rainbows around the room to make it even more mystifying. On the opposite wall was a huge cross, delicately carved and created. There were millions of small details on he, of that he was sure. But above that cross, there was a humongous stain glass window – he'd seen them before, but none so detailed as this one. It was beautiful. The light shone down on the cross, over the people that knelt down, possibly praying. The light was in soft hues of all colors, and combined with the multi-colored lights the chandelier was throwing about, it made the room breath taking.

"ALLEN!"

The shout was so loud out of the silence that had taken hold of him that his heart seemed to jump in his throat. His head spun, already grasping his wand, and stared at what he found.

It was just another man, or maybe boy, he couldn't tell but he looked young. He wore the strangest glasses – with spirals on them. He also wore a white lab coat. He lunged, hugging Allen tightly and almost throwing them both to the ground. Heart still racing, Harry let out a breath. He noticed that the people down below were staring up at them, but the exorcists didn't seem to care, wrapped up in their reunion. Staring, he found it strange just how much the exorcists stuck out. They wore black and red, and it seemed so forgien amongst all the white and pure colors around them.

"Allen, Lavi!" The boy laughed, hugging the red head as well, "And Kanda! It's so good to see you again!"

He couldn't help feel a little guilty. He'd never thought they would have people back here who cared and missed them so much, and now that seemed particularly foolish. A hand fell onto his shoulder, and he looked to see Lenalee. She tugged his forward, and he made to shake his head, not wanting to interupt, but she insisted.

"I've got so much to tell you about!" The boy was saying, "You've missed a lot! But oh! Allen, what happened? Are you guys okay?"

Kanda snorted, shaking his head and moving away. Harry was hardly even surprised anymore, watching the Japanese walk away, presumably to the infirmary. Lavi was grinning as he wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders,

"Okay? Do you doubt in us?"

"We're fine," Allen reassured, "Or will be very soon, in any case. Have you been well?"

"As well as we can be, Komui's been really pushing the scientist lately, even though he never does any of it himself!" They all laughed together, and the boy added, "I was just about to head back to the science section. Will you guys visit when you get the chance?"

"Of course!" Lavi smirked, "You guys just can't get by without us, right? Admit it!"

"We all missed you guys," The boy, apparently a scientist, admitted with an earnest expression on his face, "Everyone has been hoping for your safe return, and we were getting really worried. So you better visit soon, or the whole science section will be cramming into the infirmary!"

Even the exorcists seem a little taken aback by the honest admittance. Touched as well, if they way the grinned was anything to go by, Harry thought. Feeling even worse now, and dealing with all kinds of things beating on the back of his brain, he tried to look off to the side as if he didn't care. He didn't want to intrude on such a moment. However, Lenalee suddenly tugged him forward again, standing behind him with a smile. The boy noticed him for the first time then, and jumped, scrubbing at his eyes. Harry was shocked to see the other had been near about to cry, and he tried to squash the guild and uneasiness rolling about in his stomach.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The boy laughed at himself, "I didn't mean to ignore you. My name's Johnny!"

Harry glanced at the hand being held out to him and took it queasily,

"Harry Potter," He replied, and did not receive and surprised stare or once overs. Instead, Johnny just smiled warmly, nodding.

"It's really nice to meet you," He said, and he seemed completely honest as he said it, "I know this all must seem strange to you, but don't worry! Everyone here will do their best to help you out!"

"...Thanks," Harry had no idea how to respond to such a bright attitude.

"Yep!" Johnny nodded to him before addressing them all, "Anyways, I won't hold you up any longer, so hurry up and get to the infirmary, okay? Don't forget to visit soon!"

"We will!" Allen smiled softly, and Harry could see that the feelings between them all were genuine. As they started to walk away, Harry was surprised when the boy called out his name. Pausing, he turned partially,

"I forgot to mention – Welcome to the Black Order!"

He had no idea why that really touched him. It was just a welcome, just a few kind words – but then, he found that he didn't get many of those now a days. He was starting to feel a little emotional, so he just smiled,

"Thank you," He returned the other's wave and followed them toward their original destination.

The walk wasn't too long, but it was long enough that Harry got a wary grip on his emotions. The whole way, though, they kept nodding and greeting other people, as if they knew everyone. Maybe they did, he had no idea, but his mood was becoming gloomy and mushy.

The door to the infirmary was closed, and it was Lenalee who knocked tentatively. For a moment there was no answer, and harry ventured,

"Maybe they're not here?"

"Nah, there's always_ somebody_ here," Lavi replied, leaning on his shoulder with a lazy grin, "Usually the doors only closed when there's something like a surgery."

Harry certainly hoped there was nothing of that sort going on inside, but then the door suddenly slammed open. It was just Kanda, who was rolling his eyes at him. He moved back inside the room.

The inside was very similar to the one back at Hogwarts, with white beds on either side of the room. The room itself was fairly big, but it had a little more of a homely air to it, instead of a sick place. He noticed first that Kanda had moved to talk in low tones with another man, who was sitting on the edge of one of the beds on the far left. An older lady was standing before him, blocking their view.

"Miranda is placed over there – I'm going to go see her, alright?" Lenalee murmured softly.

"Okay. I will too," Allen agreed, pausing to glance at the bigger man Harry didn't know before turning to the wizard and asking, "Would you like to come? Miranda is another exorcist, a friend of ours."

"Sure," He shrugged. He had nothing better to do, and he didn't want to just be left to stand there on his own. They all moved toward the right side of the room. One of the beds were blocked off from the others, and as they neared it Lenalee spoke,

"Miranda? Are you awake?"

There was silence before some fabrics shifted and a tired voice replied,

"Yes, I am."

"Can we come in?"

"If you would like, of course."

She pushed the white sheets aside, and shuffled in.

Inside was an older woman that was bandaged tightly. She had curly hair, and dark circles under her eyes. She looked absolutely shocked when she noticed Allen and Lavi, and began to try sitting up.

"Miranda! Miranda, it's okay, just lay down!" Allen quickly took a seat by her, and she looked like she would start crying at any moment,

"Allen! Oh, It's so wonderful to see you!" She exclaimed, giving a watery smile, "We were worried, how are you?"

"Just fine," He replied with a comforting smile as he set aside his crutch. She eyed it with a frown, but he set his hand on hers and drew her attention away from it, "We heard that you had some trouble with a level four. Are _you _okay?"

It seemed to be the wrong thing to say, because her face fell, and Lenalee winced as if she could predict what would happen.

"It is as you say!" Miranda couldn't stop on of her tears, "I was completely useless! I had thought that I'd finally found something I could do, as an exorcist, but I was no help at all! I'm not fit to be one, I should just-"

"Miranda!" Allen's tone was very firm, "Don't talk like that. I'm sure you were a great help, you just aren't aware of what a difference your presence made. You are _not _useless."

"Yeah," Lavi sat at the edge of her bed with a grin as he patted her legs, "Just because you're not a powerhouse like us doesn't mean you don't have your strengths too. Relax."

"Relax?" She took a deep breath, a visible effort to calm herself, "Because I wasn't strong enough, a young woman died!"

"People die, Miranda," Lenalee murmured, standing at the woman's other side, "You did your best."

And that right there, gave Harry an epiphany. He could remember that conversation he'd had with Lavi a couple weeks ago:

"_Isn't this the part where you tell me to do my best, or something?"_

_Lavi smiled sadly,_

"_Your bast may not be good enough," At the other's startled expression, he elaborated, "Usually, that term is used when somebody fails. 'You tried your best, but the nation was destroyed anyway. Sorry.'"_

He fisted his hands. He could just as easily see himself on that bed, crying because his best wasn't good enough. In fact, it was so scarily possible, that it terrified him. Except, if he failed, he wouldn't be alive to feel the remorse – or maybe he would be, but that would be an even worse existence.

He watched the exorcists comfort each other and was struck by how large scale this was. This wasn't a game, these were lives in his hands. Just as the exorcists did, he had his own large weight, but he greatly admired how close knit they were. He didn't know how old Miranda was, but she had to be at least ten years older than he, or the other three. And yet they were all so close – Allen was a boy, and yet yet got along with and was a very important comrade to Miranda, an older adult. People of all ages and types were here, drawn into this war, and things like this happened all the time – even if it was on the other side of the world and he didn't know about it.

"Hey Miranda, we want you to meet a friend of ours," Lavi's voice cut through his thoughts, and he looked up in something akin to horror; this was not the times to go meeting people. But the woman looked at him and gave a world-weary, tired, but welcoming smile. Lavi beckoned him closer, and he did move forward tentatively.

"Hello," He murmured, looking down and feeling too shy to meet her eyes. She cleaned the tears away as well as she could,

"I'm so sorry!" He wondered why people had been saying that to him lately; they didn't need to apologize to him, of all people, "I'm so sorry you have to see me in such a state! It's so horrible of me, to break down in front of company, I'm a horrible person!"

Startled by her self loathing, he could see Allen hiding a grin, Lavi shaking his head fondly, as Lenalee sighed and patted her on the back, saying,

"It's okay, it's okay to be sad and you were happy to see Allen and Lavi, right? Besides, Harry doesn't mind, right Harry?"

He did actually, he minded very much. But it wasn't personal, so he shook his head. The woman smiled gratefully,

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Harry. I'm Miranda Lotto."

"Nice to meet you," He replied softly, seeing that she was still feeling down. He was startled when the sheet behind him was suddenly flung open, and a particularly menacing old woman glared around,

"I let you all say hello, but making my patient cry is going to far!"

Harry was aware of the nervous looks behind him, and even he was intimidating by this woman – she looked liked she would start getting violent any second now,

"Now, she needs rest and I've been told to check all of you over so let's go."

"Okay, uh, er, I'll see you later, okay Miranda?" Allen waved uneasily, yelping when the woman grabbed his ear, as well as Lavi's and began to bodily drag them away. They were quickly out of sight, and Harry blinked before turning back and realizing that he was alone with the women. Blushing, he gave a brief, shallow bow of respect, murmuring,

"It was nice meeting you," And then scurrying after them.

The woman brought them back to the left side of the room, and placed the two exorcists on the beds across from each other,

"Stay there, and if you leave for any reason, so help me-!" She warned with an evil eye. Both boys nodded meekly. She turned toward Harry and softened up a surprising amount, "You there, what's your name?"

"H-Harry Potter, ma'am," He glanced down, feeling as if he were being chastened.

"Well Harry, you are going to sit right here," She motioned to the bed next to Allen's, "You are going to stay there. And if I find out you're a stubborn, macho idiot like these exorcists tend to be, you will regret it."

He sat immediately where she had motioned him to, finding the bed was surprisingly comfortable. It was a welcome feeling after so much time spent on the ground. In fact, it was heavenly, and he wasn't even laying on it.

Kanda appeared, taking the bed next to Lavi when the woman motioned him to. He was accompanied by the taller, bulkier man, who smiled faintly,

"Lavi, Allen. It's good to have you back," The man greeted, and Harry got a good look at the headphones the man wore; they had crosses on them. "I hope it wasn't as bad and Kanda made it out to be."

"Well, we're still alive," Lavi shrugged, sitting back on the bed and crossing his legs, "How about you? We were told that you and Miranda had a run in with your own level four."

"'You own'?" The man repeated in alarm, "You came across one as well?"

"Yeah. Couple weeks ago, maybe less."

"Well then. I hope you are okay, how severe are your injuries?"

Harry blinked. Couldn't the other tell just by looking?

"Not too bad. Allen hurt his knee, but he should be okay. How about you?"

The man held up a hand, and Harry barely bit back a gasp – the other was missing two of his fingers. Lavi let out a low whistle, and Allen called in concern,

"You'll be okay though, right?"

"Of course," He replied, "These were the worst of it. It was good the general arrived when he did."

"Is it true that there's a new exorcist?"

"Yes. It's just a kid though, and he's being trained as part of General Cloud's unit. Master Tiedoll tried really hard to get him under his own charge, but was rejected," He laughed softly before turning serious again, "There was a fair amount of property damage, and during it, a young woman, Emilia, died to protect him while the rest of us was unable to get to them. He's very torn up at the loss."

There was a respectful silence, and Harry tried to take all this in. He glanced over to see the nurse gathering supplies from a large shelf.

"So, I gather there's someone else here that you haven't introduced me to yet?" The man cut in as an attempt to lighten the air. Harry blinked again, wondering how the other hadn't noticed. The man turned to him, giving a small, friendly smile,

"I am Marie – and you are?"

"Harry Potter," He replied, and was startled when he realized that the other had light, silver eyes – he was blind. Shocked, he tilted his head to the side, wonder how in the world the other was able to move around and act as if he could see perfectly well.

"Nice to meet you," Marie nodded politely, "I hope that the other's, Kanda in particular, wasn't too troublesome."

"Hey!" Lavi exclaimed, "That's not nice! Why does everyone have so little faith in us?"

Harry chuckled slightly, though it was feigned. He wasn't nearly in the mood to be laughing. He was struck by a very horrible feeling; He missed his friends so badly that his chest ached. He was reminded, yet again, that they were gone, and if he saw them again it would be for a long while, but it didn't stop him from missing them.

The Matron moved to Allen's side, directing him to roll up his pants. She began unwrapping his bandages once he had, and didn't even look up when the door opened.

In waltzed a man that gave Harry the feeling that he was important. He wore mostly white, and a cap on his head; as he drew near, his thin glasses glinted. He stopped by Allen, and for a moment Harry thought the man would rant, or be angry, or something to that effect. He looked first at Allen for a long moment, then at Lavi and Kanda.

"Welcome home," He said softly, and the exorcists smiled back contently. For all the world, the did appear as if they had come home for the first time in a long while. The man looked at Harry then, and his eyes were just as kind as he said,

"Hello, Harry," When he nodded, the man continued, "I am Komui, Head Branch Chief and Supervisor. Welcome to the Black Order."

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A/N: Hmm. Really, I need to stop doing these at the last minute.*Sigh* But still. I didn't quite get across the range of feelings Harry is suppose to be feeling, nor how confused and emotionally drained he is – then again, the emotionally drained doesn't come in until the next chapter, so never mind. Lol. Anyways, I hope you all liked it!

Review, please, on the way out! It's the only reason I'm still updating.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Recently, I downloaded a trial of Macromedia Flash MX, because I really wanted to try making one of those Character Creator things – the dress up games are boring, I think. But not only is it hard and time consuming, I have no idea what I'm doing, other than tutorials of course. Lol. I admire all hose who make flashes for fun!

I'm kinda uninspired at the moment – Doing this at the last second (again) and I've torn myself away from the thing to write it, so if it's... slightly below par, I'm sorry!

Also, I made a profile thing for characters; You know, where you fill out the name, age, blah blah blah. It's extremely long and really, really detailed, in case any of you are as anal about your characters as I am about mine. If you're interested, it's on my deviant page.

__--*--__

Harry eyed the man cautiously, watching him for any signs of being trustworthy. He wasn't sure what to expect – from what he heard, Komui was a kind superior, who got along with his underlings really well. But the man was still the superior, and no matter what, Harry's life may well be in the other's hands. Sometimes there are tough decisions, and it was this man's job to make them.

"What are you doing here so quickly?" Lavi spoke from across Allen's bed, "Lenalee said you weren't going to show up until after we were done with this little check up."

Komui chuckled almost nervously as he pushed his glasses up his nose. The glass glinted from the over head lights, and he threw a glance over his shoulder toward the door, as if waiting for somebody to enter. He must've been a little more strung up than he looked, because when Lenalee popped into his line of vision – she'd moved in the creepily silent way that the other exorcist tended to do as well – he let out a very high pitched scream that sounded very much like a womens.

"Brother!" She exclaimed disapprovingly, glancing apologetically to the Matron, who wore a sour glare, "Are you avoiding Ms. Bridget again?"

"Oh, how could you say such a thing of me, Lenalee?" Komui pressed a hand to his chest, though as a sign of hurt or to calm his racing heart, Harry didn't know, "I do not avoid Ms. Fay, I simply... lose track of her."

"Who's this Bridget person again?" Allen whispered toward Lavi, though his whisper carried loudly.

"She is the supervisors secretary," Marie answered instead, "Straight from central."

"This hardly matters," Komui interrupted as he fell serious, "Besides, I felt it best to speak to you myself, and we should keep what's said in this room to ourselves. Is that understood?"

Despite his previous behavior, which had been almost comical, this side showed the man actually did have leadership qualities. Harry struggled to keep up, his head a whirl of thoughts and feelings. The man stared straight at him, and he gave a small nod and felt it necessary to ask,

"Is there a reason for secrecy? I thought everyone here was trusted?"

"Oh, well, of course. They are all trustworthy, don't misunderstand me," The Chinese man leaned against the metal frame of the bed next the Allen's, "However, recently, Central sent in a whole bunch of people that are certainly helpful and they are meant to advance us – but they are also nothing more than spies. They aren't dangerous or anything, they're here to keep an eye on us for Central, but I simply want to keep this between us because I want to make sure there aren't any outside influences with your situation. Central is... more efficient because it cares less for single lives. So if they knew the exact details, you may find yourself in a bad position. Worse than your current one, that is."

"So... you're going to lie to your superiors?" Harry asked flatly.

"Lying is a relative term," The other replied, "I'm simply... omitting a few details for the better of us all."

He didn't know whether to be amused, relieved, annoyed, or apprehensive. There were many ways to take the man's apparent disregard to his higher ups.

The Matron tsked softly as she eyed Allen's knee, shooing away a concerned Lenalee, who moved to the other side of the bed and sat there. The old woman began feeling it, rubbing small, light circles. Allen winced slightly, but otherwise kept himself under control.

"I've gotten the gist of what's been happening to you through Dumbledore's information, and Allen, Lavi, and Kanda's reports. What, exactly, are you planing on doing? I assume you want to take down the evil fellow?"

Startled, harry tried to get his thoughts in order; now wasn't exactly one of his better moments.

"Yes, definitely. I... before, we were searching for Horcrux's, and we found one, but are unable to destroy it without a certain kind of magical item. We'd been thinking of using the Sword of Gryffindor, but it's out of our reach," He rubbed his forehead, trying to ease away what was the beginning of a headache, "I don't have any clues as to where the other ones might be. It was all speculation before, I don't even know where to start."

Komui nodded thoughtfully, rubbing his chin,

"I see. They are all tied to His being, as parts of his soul, so I imagine He put them all somewhere safe, somewhere hidden, and somewhere that he's been to before – probably more than once. From my files, he went to your school, Hogwarts, and that's a good bet as to where one might be, but it is out of reach at the moment, and should wait," He hummed in thought before continuing, "He hated Dumbledore – Perhaps He hid one in some certain place to spite him? That's worth looking into. Do you think He would trust one of His Horcrux's to one of His followers?"

Harry blinked, still trying to keep up. He had no idea how much information the Black Order had, but apparently it was a sizable amount. This man was just throwing out ideas, but already he was just ahead of Harry himself.

"I-I'm not sure. Maybe. Perhaps to one of his most trusted, someone among his Inner Circle."

"Inner Circle... Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange are good bets, what with Malfoy's sizable wealth and property, and Lestrange's crazy devotion. Perhaps another, but I'm thinking one of those two, if anyone," The Supervisor sighed, crossing his legs, "He seems like a smart man, if his school records are anything to go by. If he's as smart as I think he is, he would keep one of them at his side at all times, as a fall back plan in case something, however small the chance is for him, happens to the other ones. Does he keep anything in particular by him a lot?"

Baffled, the Potter thought hard,

"His wand, his followers. Lately Pettigrew has been around him all the time, but I don't think it's possible he's one. The only other thing would be his snake Nagini. But can a living being be a container for a piece of somebodies soul?"

"I'm not sure. I'll get somebody to look into that," The other slid down to sit on the bed, still staring thoughtfully off into space.

"What about that Snape guy?" Lavi volunteered, "Harry and Ron both mentioned him to be a Death Eater."

"His right hand man," Harry added almost spitefully.

"No, I don't think so," Komui shrugged, setting his clipboard aside, "Dumbledore told me all about Snape, he was very firm that the man was a double agent, and trustworthy. Of course, not now, since he had to go Death Eater full time."

"Snape is the one who killed Dumbledore," Harry snapped, "I saw it myself. Whatever he was, in the end, I guess he just wasn't as loyal as Dumbledore thought he was."

"Oh?" There was genuine surprised for a moment, "Well, that is interesting. I never thought that _that _was what the man meant... Still, Harry, you should always keep your mind open."

"Open?" He barely held his temper in check, "I saw it with _my own eyes_."

"Er, yes, well, no need to get fired up," The other shrugged again helplessly, "I'm just saying. You never know."

Silence fell,and it was plainly obvious he was upset, so the other coughed and made a 'moving on' motion with his hands.

"Anyways, we'll start from there. When the Matron releases you, you're more than welcome to check out our files and the information we've gathered. We also have gotten a sizable collection of books you might find useful. All the while, myself and a small group of scientists will be checking though and trying to find a lead."

"Only a small group?" Marie spoke softly, which was at odds to his large stature.

"Yes. It's much easier to hide, that way. Also, even if we're discovered, it wouldn't be a big deal. Don't worry, we'll do what we can," This was spoken to Harry, and he shrugged off the attempt at reassurance, "Once you're out of here, you'll be staying with Kanda-"

"What?!" The Japanese exclaimed, speaking for the first time. He growled dangerously, glaring, "No. Nobody is staying with me. I'm not babysitting the shrimp."

"I wouldn't normally put a sane person with you either, Kanda," Komui replied with a complacent shrug, "Not if I wanted to be sure of their physical and Mental health. But, I can't put him with Allen, like I'd wanted to, because Allen already has somebody staying with him. Lavi has Bookman, and I'm sorry, but there's no way I'll put Harry with Lenalee. The day a male steps into her quarters is the day they die."

Lenalee blushed and scowled, rolling her eyes before she reached out to help roll Allen's pants leg down over his newly set, treated, and bandaged knee.

"I don't care," Kanda's eyes flashed, "My room is off limits. Put him with Marie, or fang-face, but he's not staying with me. Hell, let him stay in the infirmary, I don't care."

"Kanda-"

"No."

"Kanda."

There was something that went unspoken between the swordsman and the Supervisor, and Harry watch feeling drained and annoyed. He really dislike the fuss the other was making, but then, the other waas a very privet person.

Kanda's gaze suddenly latched onto his, dark and angry,

"Fine. But if you do one thing, _one_ _thing,_ I swear you will wish you were caught by those stupid Death Eaters already."

Harry honestly thought that highly unlikely, and he rolled his eyes to let the other know he thought so. He then ignored his future roommate, looking over to see the Matron bandaging Allen's ribs tightly. Lenalee gave him a small smile, and he had to look away when he felt a gaze even darker than Kanda's.

"_Also_," Komui spoke lowly, giving Harry a look as he glanced between the two – the warning was clear, "I heard that you have something that may very well be Innocence?"

"Seemed like it," Allen seemed oblivious to the warning, "It was odd, and Harry mentioned a headache after using it too long. At one point, he used it too long and the invisibility he held over us deactivated, and he's said that that is unusual."

"It's unusual that the invisibility can effect anybody not under the cloak," Harry added, "It's never done that before. And that I can go through things it odd too. I shouldn't be able to do that, since it's just an invisibility cloak."

"There's only one way to know for sure," Komui nodded decisively, "Tomorrow, I'm going to take you to see Hevlaska. She'll know. I'll come find you after breakfast, alright?"

The wizard gave a small nod, wondering faintly who Hevlaska was, and what made her able to know such things.

"Okay, and I'd like to add that if anyone not apart of this room, and is not Reever, starts asking you questions about what you're doing here, try being evasive. Whatever that person may know, that's fine, but try not to feed them anything more. Oh, a-"

The door opened abruptly, and in waltzed a woman who looked American. She has short hair, and certainly looked professional. Her eyes landed on them instantly, and she moved over in a small amount of long, confident steps,

"Supervisor! I thought I mentioned that you shouldn't go wandering like that?"

"Very sorry," Komui didn't seem very sorry at all though, "I was just very concerned over my precious exorcists. Couldn't resist."

The woman looked around, putting a hand on her hip as she did so. She noticed harry and straightened slightly,

"They seems okay to me. You have many more important things to do – you've already wasted a good amount of time here, and before that you wasted even more time talking with Jerry."

"I was only making sure they were alright," He pouted, but it had little to no effect on her.

"And as you can see, they are fit enough. You've got a pile of papers waiting for you in your office, Supervisor."

He stood with a heavy sigh, grabbing his clipboard and smiling at Lenalee as he did,

"Alright then," He looked at each of the exorcists and Harry, "I'm off. Rest well."

"You too, you haven't been sleeping well recently, Brother," Lenalee stood as well, frowning in concern.

"Sometimes there's just no time," Komui laid a hand on her shoulder and stared for a moment.

To Harry, he could see, for just a moment, that they cared for each other very, very much. It made him miss his friends that much more. He wondered how the Weasly's were doing.

Then the Supervisor and the woman were gone, leaving behind a quieted room. The Matron was bandaging Allen's neck now, with a piece of cotton on one side, situated over the worse part of it. Lenalee sighed softly before moving over to where Lavi's bed was. She sat on the edge, asking him quietly how he felt.

Harry simply watched the old woman patch the younger boy up, wondering how many times the others had all been through this, and wondering what the worst injury they'd ever had was. They seemed to know the old woman fairly well, which was both positive and negative; After all, the main way to have gotten to know her was probably seeing her a lot to be treated.

She moved on, cleaning some of the smaller cuts on his face before moving on to his hands. They weren't torn up or anything, but several of his digits had been rubbed raw or cut, particularly the back of his right hand. When she was satisfied, she spoke,

"Beyond the obvious, you are malnourished, as I suspect you all are, and a bit dehydrated as well. I assume you didn't get to eat as much as you normally do; I'll have someone bring some over soon, but not too much because your stomach needs to settle after eating," She stood and glanced in Harry's direction, "I will look you over last, because I want to be very thorough with you. Checking over a normal person is different from looking over these ones."

He knew she wasn't asking permission, so he just watched as she gathered her things as moved to Lavi's bed. Lenalee moved so she had plenty of room, sitting at the very edge.

The door opened yet again, and once more somebody Harry didn't recognize entered. This one wasn't too much older than himself, and he wondered if he was also an exorcist, though the other didn't wear any variation of the uniform. He had long, blond hair in a braid, and seemed very formal.

"Allen Walker!" The newcomer exclaimed in annoyance. The white haired boy winced, rubbing the back of his neck in a show of discomfort. He tried to laugh it off,

"Oh, hello Link, what a pleasure to see you again, after-"

"You are not the least bit funny, Walker," Link snapped, moving to stand near the other's bed, "You don't even realize that you've succeeded in getting yourself in even further trouble, do you?"

Harry instantly wanted to know just what the boy did to get himself into trouble, so he decided he was tired enough to just go ahead and ask. When he did, the other looked at him sharply. He was distinctly aware that this one didn't move like an exorcist, but he had a similar sort of prowess that he'd learned to associate with a trained warrior.

"You must be Harry Potter," Link spoke crisply, "It is a pleasure, or at least I hope it is. I am Howard Link. I am the one who was in charge of looking over Mr. Walker here."

Instead of asking why somebody needed to look after Allen, like he wanted to, he instead asked,

"'Was'?"

"Yes. Walker got a lucky break, being sent on this mission – Usually I would accompany him even then, but because of the precarious situation you were in, he was allowed a chance at proving himself. Unfortunately, he failed rather spectacularly at that," Link's attention turned back toward the exorcist, "Really, Walker, what were you thinking? You know that utilization of the Ark was forbidden, and then you did it not once, but twice! You're only making things worse for yourself by disobeying the rules, especially about the Ark."

"It was necessary at the time," Allen argued, "It's not like I used it just because I wanted to, we really needed it! Maybe if the rules weren't so unreasonable sometimes, it's wouldn't be a problem."

"The rules are not unreasonable," The other glared, "It is you who can be unreasonable. Nobody knows the full extent of the Arks power, and that it use to be the Earl's himselves, makes it extremely suspicious. Added to the fact that you seem to be the only one who can control it, and it leaves you in a very dangerous situation, and that's not even counting all the other things you have 'going' for you at the moment. Of course they would forbid it."

"So then, let me guess, you're back to hover over my shoulder and watch my every move then?" Allen frowned, but it wasn't really an unhappy frown; He merely seemed slightly put off.

"You put yourself in this position," Link replied, crossing his arms.

"I don't regret a single thing," Allen held his head high.

Harry had the distinct impression that something was flying over his head, that he was missing something, but he was too worn out to be able to figure out what it was. He resisted the urge to just lay back, roll over, sleep, and possibly hope to just dream of something better. It shouldn't be hard to do, after all.

Lavi grumbled a little loudly, and Harry could see the red head was bandaged up quite a bit. Lenalee was giggling softly while the other was joking about something or another. The Matron moved to Kanda's bed and began to check him over as well.

She finished with Kanda surprisingly quickly, but then again, it may not have been much of a surprise at all, considering what he'd seen of the other's healing capabilities. She then turned to Harry with a stern stare that surprised him. She didn't moved over immediately, instead cleaning up her items and throwing away the trash. She cleaned her hands again, and then moved over with a vaguely familiar device, which she strapped on his upper arm to take his blood pressure and pulse.

While she waited for that, she gathered a few things together, such as a thermometer, cleaning solution, and bandages. She stuck the thermometer in his mouth as soon as she wandered back over. As she checked what the device on his arm read, she murmured quietly,

"Please remove your shirt," He frowned, but when she took the thing off he did so, "Thank you. Are there any wounds at all anywhere else?"

"I don't think so," He replied. She looked up at him as he talked around the thermometer, and he felt like Ms. Weasly was staring him down, "Really. I promise."

She smiled warmly, and the change was enough that he was able to realize that she didn't look like a strict old woman like he'd thought she was, but instead that she was simply worried and had shown in in a roundabout way. She nodded, reaching out to touch his bruised ribs. Her hands where warm, and it hurt when she pressed, but she only said,

"Just bruised, nothing serious."

She cleaned the small cuts he had before bandaging him up, followed by the one on his face and arms. His temperature seemed normal, for she didn't comment on it or make any particular face when she saw it. She threw it away, seeing as it was a one use type, and then spoke forcibly,

"You're worse than Allen. I'm going to have Jerry make you a few choice things to get your stomach in shape for the more complicated things, and you should be careful and not eat too much. The dehydration is easy enough to take care of, but I've notice you also have internal bruising. That will heal well enough on it's own, but it means you have to be very careful. No doubt you'll be leaving in the morning tomorrow, but I want you to come back after lunch."

"Alright," He nodded slightly, pulling his shirt back on, "Thank you."

She looked at him and then gave another warm smile,

"But of course," She spoke matter-of-factly, "Rest aplenty, and you should be better in no time."

She cleaned up yet again, and as she did so, she addressed them all,

"Seeing as you are all in need of being cleaned up, you will be allowed to make use of the bathroom one at a time after dinner tonight, and I will give you all a quick check over once again to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"One at a time?" Lavi whined, "That'll take too long. Can't we go back to our own rooms? It's not like it's all that bad."

"If you take one step off of that bed without my permission, I will make sure you are wearing two eye patches instead of one."

She ended that with an impressive rendition of the Evil Eye. He shivered and shrunk into his bed meekly.

"Where is the Old Panda, anyway?" He wondered aloud.

"Bookman has been very busy lately," Link explained, "There's a good chance he hasn't even heard you're back yet. I'm sure he'll visit the moment he hears."

"Ah. That's what I'm afraid of," Lavi winced noticably, and Harry wondered what this new person would be like. He hoped, though, they wouldn't be meeting quite yet because he'd met enough people for one day. His headache was still there, and starting to rage.

He felt completely drained, and it wasn't even lunch yet. So much had happened lately that he was falling behind, and he hated the feeling. He was in a new place, where there were a lot of things he didn't understand and people he wasn't sure he could trust – he'd gotten to know and understand, and on some levels befriend, the three exorcists, but it didn't stop him from being uncomfortable nonetheless. He fell back into the bed, his head hitting the pillow. The feeling was a blessing. He felt like he could just float up to the ceiling, the bed was just _that_ soft; or so it seemed to him, after weeks of sleeping on cement.

As sleep tugged at his mind, he wondered what his friends were doing right at that moment.

__--*--__

A/N: Oh. I'm really sorry. It's shorter than normal, and usually I would force myself to lengthen it, but I'm just so_ tired_. It's 11:32 AM here – that's not late at all, unless you consider I've been up since eight or so the night before. So, I'm tired, and at least I got a decent length out of it?

Sorry about that, I promise I'll start working on this a little more smartly (Not hard to do, considering.)

And omg, this chapter breaks 100,000 words! How crazy is that?

Please review! It means a lot to me, and it's why I'm still updating!


	23. Chapter 23

A/n: Alrighty. Starting this earlier and trying to be smart. Also, my desk broke. Well, the upper part broke, it's all lopsided and stuff. The slide-out keyboard thing is good... but it makes this so awkward. -Sigh- Oh well.

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"Hurry up, hurry up!" Allen whined as he continuously kept switching his weight between his feet. He tugged at his shirt, his stomach growling loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Harry hid a smile as the Matron finished looking him over. When she gave a small, fairly unhappy nod, he stood and moved toward Allen saying,

"It's not the end of the world. You make it sound like you haven't eaten in days."

"He always sounds like that," Lavi grinned, "It's like he's just one big black hole – he's always hungry!"

"Not always," Allen defended, "It's not my fault I need to eat more than you!"

"I am almost amazed you do not struggle with any weight problems," Link uncrossed his arms, "Or any other unhealthy disease."

Harry nodded in agreement. He quietly thanked the Matron for her help before he moved to follow the three to the door. Kanda had left several minutes before, having been up before the others and thus the first to be checked over once more.

"Do not forget to take those pills I gave you," The older woman warned, "The white ones as you eat, and the others afterwards."

"I will, I promise," Harry waved over his shoulder, moving outside the room and shutting the door behind him when he was told to. He quickly fell in step with the others, scratching his cheek.

He'd been given one of the training outfits that exorcists typically wore. At first he'd been rather uncomfortable. He hadn't ever really liked clothes that were so tight – his shirt was very form fitting, but he'd gotten use to it enough to forget it was even a problem in the first place. Like the others, his was black, sleeveless, and had a turtle neck. He'd been given a pair of matching black pants that fit his thighs and hips snuggly, but thankfully loosened around his ankles. His shoes were a pair of boots that were loose and looked deceptively like they would fall off at any second, but were in fact quite tight. The gloves were optional – the exorcists had them, and he'd accepted the pair that went from his elbow to his knuckles. And then, because he just preferred it that way, he'd thrown a black cloak over his shoulders.

The first time they'd seen him, Lavi had commented on how utterly bright all the black made his eyes out to be. 'Twin whirlpools at the bottom of a lake,' he'd said.

The cafeteria was huge, as he found when they arrived. He wasn't sure whether or not it was bigger than the one at the old base or not, but it looked similar; Though this one was much more white. There were people of all shapes and sizes sitting around at the tables, most of them wearing very similar jackets. Many turned to looked when they stepped inside, and he ducked his head.

He was use to people staring at him, and he could hold his head up high with no problem. A few of them seemed to dislike them all at first glance, but it wasn't quite to the level where he was worried or bothered. Instead, he was embarrassed.

There was no reason for it that he could think of, but it was there all the same.

Lavi suddenly nudged him in the side,

"What're you going to get? I know what I'm getting! I've been waiting for Jerry's cooking for months!"

"What's there to get?" Harry managed to sound completely casual as he followed them toward the line flowing out from the window in the middle of the wall, "Isn't there a menu?"

"Menu?" For a moment the red head seemed utterly bewildered, but then he laughed and slapped the other on the shoulder, "Nah, Jerry'll make you whatever you want!"

"I suppose it's impossible to say he knows how to make anything, but I haven't ever seen him not know a recipe," Allen commented as they reached the line and waited, "And I should know. He knows a lot; He can make English foods even, and Asian, and Mexican, all kinds!"

His eyes stared off into space dreamily, and Link rolled his eyes from his place in from of the boy,

"Careful Walker, I believe you're drooling."

"What?!" The boy quickly reached up to embarrassedly rub his chin, but pouted, "I am not, pimple-face."

"You were very close. I though I would simply warn you before you made a fool of yourself even further."

"Ouch," Lavi winked at Harry jokingly, following the line when it took a few steps forward, "I'd say they act like an old married couple, but it's too cliché – besides, if anyone acted like that, it'd be Allen and Yuu. Which do you think would be the wife?"

Allen switched his disbelieving stare to his friend, while Harry pretended to think,

"I don't know. Kanda has the long hair, but Allen's face is softer."

"Kanda also seems like a woman at her time of the month sometimes," Lavi added mischievously, "Yet Allen seems more like the mothering hen."

"Lavi," Allen warned dangerously, "I swear, you better stop that train of thought or I'll make you regret it."

"Yes, stop corrupting the new addition," Link added, throwing a spare glance at the wizard, who could only laugh.

The line moved quickly once they stopped paying attention to it. Link ordered first, followed by Allen, who ordered to most food Harry might have ever seen one person intend to eat. He only heard Jerry's voice, since he had his back turned at the moment in order to lean against the wall to talk to bother Allen and Lavi. When he moved up in line while Allen moved to the side as another cook began loading his plate, Harry got quite the surprise.

"What's this?!" The man who he knew was Jerry exclaimed, leaning forward through the window, "A new face! My, and what a cute one!"

Jerry was bizarre, and that was the first and only word he could think of to describe the man. For one, he had_ purple_ hair. That was the very first thing he noticed, and he was able to get over it within a second or two because of the experience he'd had with Tonks and her habit of changing her own hair color to all kinds. Then he noticed that besides the fact the man was African American, he was just strange.

"Uh, um. Harry Potter," He introduced himself cautiously, "Nice to meet you."

"Oh! And he's got manners! This is the first since Allen!" Jerry grinned, leaning out even further, "My my, I'll be able to work here forever and die happy if I get to serve so many handsome young men!"

Harry had to admit that frankly, he was starting to get creeped out.

"Uh, thank you?"

"No need to thank me," The cook had a bit of a loud and obnoxious voice as well, he found, "After all, I'm not the one who gave you such splendid eyes! My my, those are _nice _eyes!"

He resisted the urge to slowly start backing away.

"So, what can I get you, cutie?"

He was vaguely aware that Lavi was laughing hard enough that it was impossible to hide. Allen seemed oblivious – his plate was still being stacked. Link was calmly clearing his throat, though it sounded suspiciously like the other was hiding a chuckle of some kind.

"I'm not sure," He admitted, trying to think of something he'd like.

"Anything, anything at all!" Jerry insisted.

He ended up just ordering some kind of curry, as per Allen's suggestion. Jerry was very enthusiastic about complying, and as he stood to the side and waited, he was surprised by how quickly he had his tray in his hands, ready. He only had to wait a moment or two more for Lavi, and then he turned to follow them to sit somewhere. He certainly wasn't about to sit alone, if he had a choice.

However, as he turned, he was only a little surprised to find an alarming number of eyes on him. Most of them eyed him curiously before looking away; Nobody seemed the least bit embarrassed about being caught staring. It was that which probably unsettled him the most.

"Oh hey, look, there's Lenalee!" Lavi exclaimed gleefully, "Hey Lenalee~!"

The Chinese girl glanced back, startled, as she sat down next to a small group of people wearing identical jackets. She gave a smile and a wave before turning back around.

"What do the jackets symbolize?" Harry whispered the question to Link, because he'd learned over the course of the day before that the other was rather professional and not the least bit judgmental or malicious. He felt safe enough to ask what might have seemed like a stupid question, seeing as Lavi might tease him (Though it was always good-naturely) and Allen might talk just a little too loud, and then everyone near would be aware he had not a clue.

"Those jackets are a symbol of the Finders, just like the exorcist uniforms are for the exorcists," Links voice was no nonsense, "Finders investigate cases of abnormality that could be a sign of Innocence. They also guide the exorcists to the scene where the exorcist searches for said Innocence."

"Oh," Harry hummed thoughtfully before asking, "Are they... er... what are the... qualifications... of being a Finder?"

"None," The other shrugged, balancing his tray with one hand, "They were all normal citizens before they volunteered. Most joined as the result of being affected personally by an akuma, such as the death of a loved one."

That, he thought, kind of put things in perspective. He wasn't sure how many there were, but if all of them had lost someone else, if they were all here due to disasters by those creatures, then...

"Here, pull up a bench," Lavi joked to Harry, who sat next to the red head wearily. The seats and tables were all remarkably similar to the ones that he was use to using from Hogwarts, in the Great Hall. It gave him a sense of melancholy.

"You may want to avert your eyes, just for a moment," Lavi warned him, "What your about to see is dangerous to your health."

Of course, Harry had no idea what the other was talking about, but moments later realized. He'd never seen Allen eat quite so much, quite so fast, quite so desperately. He wouldn't go so far as to say that it was animalistic, but it was... well, it was a sight to behold.

Somebody slid onto the bench on his left, his free side, and he found Lenalee resting her chin in her hands, her elbow on the table, and staring at him. When their eyes met, she smiled,

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better, recently," He replied politely, "Thank you for asking."

He wasn't sure what it was about her that insisted he speak so politely, but he had a feeling it had something to do with a lingering threat from her older brother.

"You're just like Allen," She giggled, "You don't have to be so stiff. I don't mind."

"Perhaps not..." He trailed of uncertainly, unsure of how to respond. Link saved him.

"Perhaps you do not mind, Ms. Lee, but that does not mean you're older brother will not."

"Brother isn't so bad, once you get to know him," Lenalee insisted mostly to Harry, "He's just... a little overprotective. He means well."

"Only to you," Lavi waved a piece of sausage in a vague arc, "To every one else, he'll maim and do unpleasant things to."

The wizard snorted, setting about eating his own food quietly. He took the pills that the Matron had given him with stern instructions, and he didn't eat much. He'd never had a large appetite, and with his stomach still recovering, small meals were perfectly fine. He was done well before the others, and he waited in his seat because he didn't know what else to do.

It was almost as Lavi was done that they heard a mysterious noise that sounded suspiciously like cutting wind. Seconds later, something flew right by Harry's head, smacking into the back of Lavi's and forcing the other's face right into his plate. For a moment, He was utterly uncomprehending what was going on, but them he got a good look:

There was a smally statured man holding Lavi's face into the plate with his foot. Lavi was flailing wildly.

"Was that necessary?" Link asked distastefully, but even he backed away when the small old man turned a black rimmed glare his way. Lavi started cursing rather spectacularly, muffled by his food.

"What was that?" The old man leaned down, and the red head let out a few interesting phrases out. The man moved from his spot, landing on the ground, and when the exorcist's head snapped up with a great gulp of air, slapped his head hard enough to send it right back into the plate.

"I hear you have been into some _interesting_ things," The old man said.

"Well no sh-" Lavi started as his head same up again, eggs sticking to his cheeks awkwardly, "What did you expect, you Old Panda?"

"Respect!"

And Harry watched as the other was effectively silenced rather unwillingly. He wasn't sure if he should be frightened or not – had he ever seen such an outwardly abusive relationship before? He didn't think so.

He quietly scooted away, hoping that he would be left unnoticed.

"Don't worry, this happens all the time," The voice just behind him made him look, and he found that his scooting away had settled him somewhat closely to Lenalee, who didn't even seem to notice. He gave a nervous nod and asked what, exactly, 'this' was.

"Oh, Lavi and Bookman. They get into arguments all the time."

"You call that an argument?" To his surprise, he spoke at the same time as Link, and they watched each other in surprised before he became aware that the two in mention had started a food fight.

Lavi, of course, ran out of things rather quickly, and began reaching to the plates around him. The old man – Bookman, was it? - was acting rather violently toward the whole thing.

"Now now, you're creating a lot of work for the cleaners," They looked and found Komui, who was holding up his clip board, an egg splattered over the back of it, "Surely we can settle this a bit more peacefully?"

"Brother!" Lenalee blinked, standing and moving over to his side, "What are you doing here?"

"I came for Harry, of course," The man's glasses flashed, "As I said I would."

Mostly because he was a little unsure and off balance, Harry stood up a little eagerly, stepping out from the bench. He wasn't really thinking where, exactly, he was going or about to do, just aware that he was soon to leave this strange situation.

"May I come?" Allen asked, swallowing loudly and standing as well.

"If you would prefer," Komui shook the egg off onto the floor, "And of course, Bookman is welcome to join, and it is up to him whether Lavi may tag along as well. Lenalee, I actually wanted to ask you a favor."

Harry glanced over his shoulder to see Allen hurriedly cleaning up his own mess and putting his tray away, like Harry had done a while ago when he'd finished eating. Link followed Allen as well, and within moments both were standing nearby and read to go.

Lavi did end up tagging along, with Bookman, and Lenalee left to go the the Science Sector, or so she said. Harry was a little curious about the Science Sector, but he didn't ask.

They didn't meet or see many people in the hallways, but Harry thought he saw a small figure following them a couple of times. He never got a good look, and just when he thought about saying something, he caught Komui's eye, and the man winked.

Komui's office was round, a almost large. There were papers everywhere – on the desk, on the couch in front of the desk, on the floor, on the desk's chair. They passed it all, and even though nobody else showed any particular aversion to stepping on the paper, Harry was still careful, stepping on as little as he could; That was actually quite a feat.

Then they rode some kind of elevator with no walls or any seemingly support at all. There was no cord, nothing holding it up at all. He couldn't help mention,

"I could easily mistake this for magic. Hoe is it floating like this?"

"Well, many things are possible with science," Komui replied pleasantly, "Here at the Order, we have our hands on more advanced machinery than I imagine you have seen before."

They landed on top of some kind of pillar, round in shape, and it was surrounded by darkness. It was kind of cold, chilly, and it gave Harry goosebumps. It was utterly silent, and he was rather afraid to brake that silence.

"Do you have the cloak, Harry?" Komui looked at him, but his expression was carefully blank.

"Yes," Harry pulled it out, as he'd been mindful to take it with him when he'd left the infirmary that morning. He didn't know what to do with it, so he held it out to the superior man next to him, but Komui shook his head. He pointed off ahead, into the darkness.

Harry turned to look, holding the cloak close to his chest in a defensive gesture when a chill went down his spine. He didn't know what he was suppose to be seeing, so he waited. He didn't have to wait long.

When he first saw the long, faintly glowing, silver tentacle-looking thing, he thought he might be loosing it. It almost slithered along, but it moved quickly, and the next thing he knew it was wrapped around his leg. At first he just stared, but then he let out a small yelp and tried to jump back. Consequently, he tripped over Bookman, who'd been there and tried to move. The floor had looked hard; he closed his eyes to await whatever would happen.

To his surprise, he did not hit the ground, but was instead caught by other similar tentacle-looking things. They were not soft, but they had a sort of texture like a seal, or a dolphin. They began to move then, shifting under him and then lifting until he was not only off the ground, but steadily rising.

He wanted to panic. He wanted to reach for his wand and 'protect' himself, but he also wanted to trust Komui, whom he didn't belief would have sent him down here if he was going to be harmed.

He rose further and further, and then a figure rose up to greet him. It was not a creature he recognized. It gave a silver glow from all over, and appeared not to have any eyes. It was huge – it's head was bigger than his whole body.

"_Innocence_," It's voice was wistful and hopeful, and distinctly female. It had a maternal side to it, and a powerful one as well. He stared in wide eyed wonder before asking,

"A-are you Hav-Hev-Hevlaska?"

"_I am...Hevlaska_," It confirmed, "_Do not...be frightened. I...am not your enemy_."

He grinned weakly.

"_Inno...cence_?" Hevlaska murmured again.

Harry glanced over his shoulder once; It was a really long way down. Lavi was shielding his eyes as he stared up, as if it were particularly bright. Allen was watching curiously, Bookman's face was blank, and Link was similar, though with a hint of curiousity. Komui had an keenly interested expression that Harry didn't know how to take. He turned back and held the folded cloak out in front of him.

As a few of Hevlaska's multiple arms moved to gently grasp the cloak, he was simultaneously lowered to the ground. He didn't take his eyes away from the sight before him though, which is why he was able to see how the 'fingers' of the tentacle's melded into the invisibility cloak, as if they were becoming one. He worried about just what the creature was doing.

To his surprise, he was placed on his feet so gently that he wasn't off balance at all. Still, Lavi placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, offering a small tilt of the head.

"So? What do you think Hevlaska?" Komui asked, though his voice did not raise hardly at all, despite the fact the other was so high. The creature began to lower itself, until it's head wasn't much higher than the platform. The cloak was glowing brightly, and after a moment, Hevlaska spoke.

"_This is... highly unusual_," She, for Harry was assuming it was a she, hummed before continuing, "_There _is_ Innocence... inside this cloak._"

"But...?" Komui prompted.

"_But the cloak is not Innocence... Someone has inserted... Innocence inside this cloak...a long time ago._"

"What's the difference?" Harry asked worriedly, running a hand through his hair impatiently.

"Innocence is Innocence," Komui explained with a soft smile, "Allen's arm is not Allen's arm – it is Innocence, through and through, and not human flesh. The same can be said of Lavi's hammer or Kanda's sword. So for the Innocence to have been placed inside something like this, is strange."

"_The cloaks... magical properties are interfering with the Innocence... which is already weakened by it's... shell._"

"Which means...?" He looked to the Supervisor again, who was also looking thoughtful.

"I'm not entirely sure. So, Hevlaska, are you saying that the Innocence is being restrained?"

"_Partly... yes. It isn't... fully awakened._"

"Harry, where did you get the cloak?" Komui looked to the wizard, who gave a small start.

"I... It was passed down to me, by my father."

"Is it possible it's a family heirloom? Passed down, from generation to generation?"

"I don't know," Harry frowned apologetically, "I haven't ever talked to my father or mother, so I don't know. Dumbledore never mentioned anything other than it was my fathers. Why?"

"Innocence, fully awakened or not, respond to only one person. It doesn't matter the state it's in, or what might be restricting it, I believe it's safe to say that that aspect of Innocence will never change. You say only you are able to create the other effects, such as casting invisibility over others or passing through solid objects?"

"That's right..." He glanced at the others; Bookman seemed to be the only one not absolutely lost.

"But how would passing through everything or being invisible defeat an akuma?" Lavi wondered aloud, "It can't. Yet it's fairly obvious it's the Innocence that's causing it, since Harry couldn't do any of that before."

"Well, that's not necessarily true," Bookman leaned against the railing, "Miranda's Innocence cannot defeat an akuma directly – she is meant to assist others. Harry's could very well be the same."

"Here is what I believe," Komui stood up a little straighter, his voice becoming professional, "Although this is only intelligent guessing. I think it's possible that, if the cloak has been passed down through the family, the Innocence recognizes a member of the family as suitable to synchronize with. Because Harry is the last, other than his aunt and cousin, there is little chance to test this theory. The magical attributes are interfering – the cloak still does what it's suppose to do, but the Innocence is restricted. The report managed you managed to keep the activated state for around half an hour, give or take, before you gained a major headache. Chances were, is would have deactivated soon anyways."

"Now, if you could, try to activate it while Hevlaska checks your synchronization percentage."

Harry hesitated before he took the cloak that the large creature held out to him. He threw it over his shoulders, because it felt more natural that way. It took him a full half-a-minute before he felt the effects. As he blinked out from sight, Hevlaska's tentacle's reached out and gently encircled him to keep track of where he was. A few moments later, they began to meld with him, though he couldn't see it truly since his body was invisible.

"_Four percent.... Eleven percent.... Nineteen percent.... Twenty three percent.... Thirty nine percent.... Forty three percent..._" Hevlaska moved away, and Harry hadn't even realized she'd been so close, "_The synchronization is forty three percent._"

"That's... unexpected," Komui murmured just as Harry became visible again, taking off the cloak, "Such a low percentage rate is dangerous for the one synchronizing. It is, perhaps, no wonder that you had headaches."

"Dangerous in what way?" He asked as he carefully folded one of his most prized possessions.

"Dangerous. It could harm you, and if low enough, it might even be fatal. I do not think you are low enough that that is a problem, but I still would not be at all surprised if you're rate dropped unexpectedly."

"So what?" Allen stepped forward, "What now? This... this doesn't make Harry an exorcist does it?"

Komui looked at the wizard with such scrutiny that he had another shiver. After a moment the man sighed.

"Normally I would be forced to do one of two things. One one hand, I would have to force Harry to be an exorcist for the sake of the fact our man power is low, and every exorcist is a hugely important piece to protecting the people. Or, the other, I would have to ask Hevlaska to remove the Innocence from the cloak."

"The problem with that, however, is that not only am I unsure of what that would do to the cloak, if it would do anything at all, is that it means that we have gotten our Innocence. It would give reason for the higher ups to possibly pull the plug and force Harry away."

"What?!" Allen scowled, "Why? What for?"

"'What for?'" Komui chuckled, "For this war that is not ours, we are lending three of our exorcists. Three of a handful. The chances of your deaths are high – now that we know where one piece is, there is the chance that they will decide to take the Innocence and wait until the war is over to look into the hints at other pieces, if only because they don't want to loose any exorcists over something like this."

Harry gripped the cloak tightly, recalling how he had known that his life was very well in Komui's hands. He clenched his jaw, quietly watching the other with a burning gaze.

"But?" He asked, "What will you do?"

"I will need a few days in order to decide on a course of action," Komui replied seriously, "However, I can assure you that I will not remove the Innocence from your cloak. Yet. It will, eventually, come to that, I'm sorry to say. But I won't hand you to death's door, I promise you. I will help you in any way that I can, for as long as I can."

The words seemed sincere, and after a moment he relaxed, just a little. The man was kind. Everything he'd pointed out was too terribly true, and Harry knew, even if not completely, that this was not just a big help. It was beyond that.

"_But,_" Komui interrupted his relief, "I must say this: I want to help you Harry, I do. But there is a point in which I will draw the line. If I feel that things are going to far, if I feel that everything is going too badly, then I will pull the plug myself. I want to keep everyone alive for as long as I can. This includes you, so long as you are here at the order. But do not forget that your war and ours are two different things."

Harry swallowed heavily. He wasn't even entirely sure what the other was saying; that the man wanted to help, he understood. He gave a nod anyway, because as uncertain as he was, he understood the other's want to protect his friends, his people. Harry would have done the same, had their positions been reversed.

"Shall we go back?" The supervisor suggested, "You have the whole of today, after all, to explore."

"To... explore?!" He'd never thought he'd get the chance. He became excited at the thought, at being able to explore this majestic place.

"Goodbye, Hevlaska," Komui waved over his shoulder, "Thank you for your help."

"_It was my... pleasure_," She replied, slowly lowering herself back into the darkness.

"Um!" Harry blushed slightly, "It was – It was nice meeting you. Thank you. For your help, that is."

She seemed to smile.

"_And I you, Harry Potter._"

As they boarded the elevator again, Komui gave a smile that seemed almost maniacal,

"By the way, Harry. I had meant to mention, but I think it is best if you... improve upon yourself. That is, I think it would be best if you receive small lessons, let's say, everyday in order to become a little stronger."

"I was... sparring, sometimes, with Kanda, and once with Lavi," Harry admitted with a wince, "I don't think I'd be very good at it."

"Well, besides the fact that I disagree," Lavi said brightly, "You don't really have to be good at something in the beginning in order to improve. If you're bad at it, that's all the more reason, don't you think?"

"I think you're a traitor," He pouted slightly, though he was only joking.

"It doesn't matter, I've just made up my mind!" Komui's smile widened, "How does every morning sound? Before lunch?"

"Well, are you giving me a choice? Because if you are-"

"No. No, I am not giving you a choice. Every day at ten then."

Harry hid a small smile, though he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about having his butt handed to him on a golden platter every day. He was relieved. He wasn't out of hot water yet, of course, but at least it wasn't boiling yet. He looked forward to the next few days, when he'd be able to go through the information the Order had and try to get leads to where he needed to find the Horcrux's. Komui seemed very competent – his help would no doubt be invaluable.

He relaxed his shoulders and then squared them. He had to be prepared.

__--*--__

A/N: Just to say, I like Hevlaska, haha. I would probably freak if I saw her for real, out of nowhere like that, but she's still pretty awesome.

Also, the reason this is kind of late (Well, not really, because it's still wed.) is because, well. I'd gone to look of popular British foods, and then manners, and things like that. Somehow, I got from British foods, to manners and etiquette, to Harry Potter recipes, to Harry Potter quotes, to the JK Rowling interviews that I kept reading. For, like, hours. Haha.

I think that's all I was going to say. So, uh, enjoy!

Oh! Also, is there anything in particular you'd like eto see while Harry is at the Order? For example, meeting Timothy (Which he will, don't worry), or something else?

Review please! They are my Life-Candy.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Hmm. Lately I've been at a loss (well, for the most part) where this is going. You know, I've got this one scene, from the final battle, stuck in my head that I can't wait to write. I'm holding off of course, because I don't want to lose what's going for this story, but it's so tempting...

Also, if I ever do manage to finish this thing, I'll probably go through the whole thing and... well, not rewrite, exactly, but you know. Touch up and fix, I guess.

__--*--__

Life in the order was both very, very different to what Harry was use to, and a bit similar. It wasn't quite routine, really, because... well, he supposed that it actually was a bit routine, but because nothing happened the same way twice, it didn't seem like it.

Days passed, then a week, and then two. His friends were never far from his mind, now that he had just enough time to relax a little. Granted, he felt that he_ shouldn't_ have time to relax at all, but he discovered that the Science section were quite forceful that he not work himself too hard, even though they in turn did the exact same thing.

He saw Johnny more than any other scientist, because the other was so interested in magic and giving a helping hand. He was such an optimist and had so much faith in the exorcists despite their obvious disadvantages that Harry was amazed. They got along really well, and at times he could make a comparison to Hermione and the other, although Johnny was perhaps a little less forceful and took a little more complete joy in learning.

Of course he met the other scientists as well. Reever was the one that, despite the fact he had so much work to do with his normal duties, was in charge of their little research group. Harry was surprised Komui wasn't doing it, but though the Chinese man dropped my every once in a while with ideas, information, or theories, he was suspiciously absent from most activities lately. The scientists who didn't know better were amazed that the man seemed to be getting some actual work done.

He avoided all those that seemed particularly influential. It wasn't too hard, since he kept himself so busy.

He visited Jerry for most of his meals, and the other was a constant source of entertainment, though it was a strange and sometimes slightly uncomfortable entertainment. Jerry had once even got him to help out in the kitchens once, and though it turned messy and rather unproductive, it had been fun. It had been in one of the first few days that he also discovered his golem had broke. It wasn't much of a surprised considering the beating it had taken, but Komui took it back with a curious little frown.

Harry was around the exorcists almost all the time, and he saw them all almost every day. Miranda was unfailingly polite and kind, always trying to help him out, even though sometimes her help was more detrimental than anything. Once he realized her triggers, he became good at avoiding her depressions. Marie was always fun to speak to as well. In fact, he saw the other every other day during his 'training' in the morning. They got along quite well.

Lenalee was a bright sun when he was really tired toward the end of the day. She always seemed to show up whenever he needed help or was feeling down. Although Harry had a hard time understanding her undying faith, he understood her view of the world a little better than most. On the other hand, Bookman seemed to be always watching him. The old man knew so much, and he knew the most about the magical world in the whole of the Order. Sometimes Harry would work up his courage to ask the other a question that the other always knew, but he generally didn't like talking to Bookman. Something about the other was simply... nasty wasn't the right word, but he felt perhaps 'detached' was correct and yet incorrect as well.

Harry had one glimpse of a General, and felt that he would be happy to never meet one face to face. The one he'd seen had been a large, hulking man that looked just as happy stabbing anyone in the Order in the back. Literally. He was menacing, and the Boy Who Lived didn't want to meet another if that was the experience he was going to get.

He saw Kanda every morning, every night, and sometimes a fair bit in between. Since they shared a room, and it was a bit of a wonder to everyone in the Order since anyone who even went near Kanda's quarters received the evil eye. They had fallen into a routine of their own where they spoke as little as possible. Harry had learned the other's habits very, very well in order to avoid the other's wrath, and so knew when it was safe to get up or come back to sleep. Regardless, they'd fallen into a truce that Lavi repeatedly called creepy.

He saw Lavi frequently as well, because the other often helped a whole lot when Harry was researching. He discovered the exorcist was a big help there, even more so in the subject of history. They always almost always ate together, though on the rare occasions that he couldn't, the wizard sat with either Marie or Lenalee instead.

With Allen Harry found a new side. He discovered how dear the other saw the Order, and at the same time, how something just wasn't quite right with how the Order saw Allen. Most were extremely friendly and just as happy to speak to the exorcist as Allen was to them. But then there were the ones who stared at the other with a distrustful look in their eye that would be easy enough to pass off to something simple, but Harry just didn't see it that way. He also saw Link a lot, of course, considering how he shadowed Allen. They got along fairly well, though sometimes Harry found that he got riled up just a little too easy when Link stayed so calm and differential.

He had his training session (though he didn't like to call it such since it didn't seem much like training) every morning at around nine, and it lasted until around twelve, which is when he went to lunch. Generally it consisted of him trying oh so hard to keep up and learn from his training partner of the day. Usually it was Allen or Marie, and every couple days it would be Kanda, who was strict and harsh. The swordsman usually kept Harry longer than lunch, and strangely it was those days he liked the best. It seemed that Kanda was the one who understood his hate of being helpless the most.

After the session and lunch, he went to the library and often met either Lavi or Johnny, though there were days where he found himself in blissful silence.

He found that the one thing the Order usually was, was silent.

It was mostly because of the exorcists, and he was amazed at the reverence most paid to them. It sometimes made him wonder what his life would have been like if that Innocence in his cloak had caused him to be an exorcist himself. He quickly banished those thoughts – he had plenty on his plate, thank you very much.

Often he would look at the spell books that Komui passed onto him. Most of the spells inside weren't hugely powerful, but in fact was the beginning to healing magic. He quickly discovered he had no knack for it, no talent at all, but he continued trying to learn because he couldn't bare to look down at somebody who was wounded and say 'sorry, I can't help you because I wasn't any good at it and got too frustrated, so I stopped trying.' Once, he received a surprise when Bookman appeared before him with a large tome of old magic spells. Those spells were really useful, but really difficult. He'd hardly mastered one spell in the week and a half he'd had it.

It was another day in the library that a sudden though came to him; It had been almost a month since 'that' had happened. He didn't know when the next full moon was, but the closer it came, the more worried he got. Nobody acted different, not even Kanda, but the problem was there regardless. He wasn't even sure Komui knew of it, considering he'd never said anything hinting he had, and Harry wouldn't put it past the Japanese to keep it as much of a secret as he could.

He leaned back on the couch he sat on; It was big and plush, which helped to ease his particularly sore and screaming muscles. He'd already put the healing book away for the day, since he knew that he would never get anything done when he couldn't think straight through the frustration he felt at not being able to do a very simple muscle relaxant spell. Instead, he had taken the other large tome into his lap, the one Bookman had wordlessly given him.

It had no title, or if it had, it was so very old and worn that it had been smoothed away. The bindings were solid, but the pages were thick and yellow from age. Old books were nothing new, but Harry knew enough to know that this one was extremely old. The type of parchment, for example, and the manner of writing. Not to mention that it appeared to have been bound by string and nothing else, but later had a stronger and more durable cover and whatnot added onto it.

It was all for 'Battle' magic. In it were spells that he'd never heard of, and he had a hunch that even Hermione would have never heard of it, simply because it revolved around one special technique that was the basis of it's teachings.

It taught how to see, understand, and manipulate the magical particles in the air, which had confused him because he'd been under the impression that magic came from within. Bookman had explained that that was true – magic does come from within – but just because you use the magic inside you, does that mean that magic outside of you does not exist? The technique was very, very old, thrown away several hundred years ago because it was ancient magic nobody truly understood, and because so very few could learn to use the magic outside themselves.

Regardless, the book claimed that once the basis was mastered, then there would be a whole new horizon of offensive magic that could fell the mightiest of foes. He'd flipped through, and discovered it explained how to manipulate the magical particles into such things as grass, or sand, or air. How to use them raw, how to use it simply to fuel normal spells.

Unfortunately, he'd not gotten very far in that, either.

The door opened and somebody stepped in, carefully avoiding the book stack by the door. There were several all over the place, the couch in particular. Harry sighed and looked, finding Johnny blinking at him. From behind Johnny, Harry saw a small portion of a child he never got a good look at standing a little ways down the hall, ducking his head around the corner to look into the room.

He'd immediately discovered that he was being stalked by said child, ever since he'd arrived. The boy never approached Harry or spoke to him, simply watching from afar. It was kind of annoying, but since it wasn't doing any harm, he never said anything. He often wondered who's kid it was, since he'd never seen another around.

"Hello Harry," Johnny greet with a smile and a wave with his free hand, since his other carried a small packet, "How are things going?"

"Lousy," Harry grumped, shutting the book and setting it aside carefully, "It's like no matter what I try, I fail miserably. I don't remember magic ever being quite so hard for me."

"It's the same for scientists you know," The other stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and cutting out the kids face, "We have to start over a lot because our first product failed. Also, sometimes there are things you can't do very well, and things that are tough no matter who you are. You're trying to do both."

"Yeah, I guess, but I can't tell Voldemort 'Oh sorry, could you wait another couple of years, I don't have the hang of this yet'," He replied with a sigh, shifting and removing a stack of books from the couch and onto the floor. Johnny moved closer and sat, sinking into the cushions.

"Well, that's true. You just have to do the best with what you have."

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thanks though," He shrugged, "So, what've you got?"

"Oh!" The other grinned widely as he put the packet on his lap, "Komui put this together. I'm not sure what's inside. He said to hold off looking until you were around."

"Alright? Well, open it up!"

Johnny's fingers made short work of the seal, and soon there was several articles of paper was sitting in the space between them. They turned, crossing their legs to fit better, and Harry picked up the note on top.

"Hmm, it's from Komui," He stated as he eyed the now-familiar scrawl, "It says... let's see... 'Harry, do you remember that theory I had, where your evil wizard might've hidden his Horcrux's in places he's been or fond of? While researching, I discovered the area that He grew up in. It seems like a possible place.' Well, that's true enough," He interrupted his reading with a frown, "There was one there, but it was taken already."

"That's good then," Johnny chirped, "What else does it say?"

"It says, 'I also tried to draw up similarities of any kind, because they usually hold some kind of clue. I discovered that Dumbledore grew up in the same area that you did, in Godric's Hollow-'" His breath hitched. He hadn't known this; Why hadn't Dumbledore ever mentioned something like that? "'-and though I don't know if there are any possibilities that there is a Horcrux there, it may be worth looking into. This is what I have found. Also, whenever you get this, find some time to come to my office.'"

The last sentence was almost impossible to make out. It looked to have been added very hurriedly, as if Komui had come across new information rather suddenly, or perhaps it had been a last minute thought.

Johnny was sorting through the fairly small pile, and he held up a stapled packet that looked to be copied from a book.

"This looks like an excerpt from a book. By the language, a biography of some kind... yes, one of Dumbledore? Komui notes on the sidelines that it is, and..."

"What is it?" Harry leaned forward curiously, surprised when the other trust them forward with an annoyed huff. He wasn't sure why the other was annoyed, at first, but then he discovered that along the margins, other than small notes, were doodles. Some were quite funny, some just made of bordem, and he laughed at seeing them. On the last page, he noticed, was what looked to be a small blueprint of some kind of robot, hurriedly scribbled out.

"There's a few newspaper clippings here too," The scientist added, still sorting through them, "One of them is about the... the murder of your parents."

The other handed it over almost immediately, and Harry set the biography aside for the moment to examine it. It had a picture with the article, depicting a house perfectly, then shifting into that same house rather destroyed, mostly originating from one area. He realized after staring for several moments that it was his house, the one he'd lived in as a baby. The article went one to restate the events of the attack, of the lone baby boy who had survived, though with a new scar to show for it, and the Dark Lords defeat.

Paper clipped behind it was a small note that read 'I though you may have been interested in this,' and behind that was a few more clippings, though they were very small printings of letters sent to the newspaper about the article on top. Some were rejoicing about the magical worlds defeat of the Dark Lord, some were lamenting all those lost, but more than anything were the small letters sorrowfully recounting the Potters, who had died. Many expressed the hope that the young Potter child would grow up to be a great wizard.

He read them all with a sense of awe and felt his throat tightening. It was a sort of motivation that he could not of asked for, because it seemed, to him, so profound. He knew what the world was like with Voldemort in it, and reading how relieved, how happy, how utterly joyous the people were made him feel the whole thing becoming just that much more important. He felt deep gratitude to Komui, who had seen fit to include them.

"There's more," Johnny murmured quietly, as if afraid of disturbing him.

In the pile was another few excerpts regarding Godric's Hollow, but under it all was other clippings about the Potter family. They were all old with age, of course, so Harry handled them even more carefully, as if tilting it the wrong way could break them. Several had pictures, and he saw the obituaries that a couple had written for his parents, long and detailed, and knew that Komui had added these not because they were relevant to the search, but because he knew Harry need that kind of pick me up.

He wanted to read them through right away, pushing everything else aside, but he didn't. He wanted to remain on focus, and perhaps use it as a sort of reward for himself at the end of the day, before he went to bed. So, despite his longing, he set them all carefully aside and took a deep breath.

Johnny and he looked through the rest of the material slowly, putting together small facts that seemed relevant. Once done, they found that the chance was small that there was a Horcrux there, but Harry found that he wanted to visit anyway. It was the place that he was born, the place Dumbledore grew up at, and he wanted to see it and remember it on his own instead of through pictures. He mentioned this to the other, who seemed completely understanding, though worried.

"Well, it's just... What if maybe He guessed you'd go back there? There'd be a trap for sure, you know?"

"Well, if there's a chance, then it's likely that he's hiding something there, is it?" He replied, "Anyway, I'll be really careful, I promise."

"It's not up to me though, you'll have to ask Komui about it," Johnny smiled apologetically, "I don't know what he'll say, but still, you should be careful no matter what, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Harry remembered the little piece of advice Lavi had given him weeks ago and added, "No, I'll do better than that."

Johnny didn't reply, only smiling and leaning back. He looked around the room, relaxed, before speaking again,

"Alright. Don't you think you should go see Komui now then?"

"Go see...? Oh!" The wizard blushed at having forgotten the note, "Right. Yeah. I'll go do that then."

Harry stood, stretching as well as his sore body would let him. He said a quick good bye to his rather new friend, and then went to the door. At the last moment, he remembered the articles he'd wanted to read so badly, and turned back around to grab them, only to find the other already holding them out. Surprised, he walked back over and took them, and Johnny offered a quick grin before staring back down at the pile with a look Harry had learned to recognize as the other's serious face.

Outside the room was cooler, and he ran a hand through his hair awkwardly. He headed toward the room he was sharing to Kanda instead of Komui's office, though, because he didn't want to take the chance of something happening to the fragile paper.

He didn't see anyone along the way other than what he guessed was a finder turning into another hallway he recognized as one of the main ones that led to the cafeteria. He didn't see the kid again either, and when he found himself outside the wooden door, he knocked on it's frame softly. He waited, unsure whether Kanda might actually be there, and was glad he did when the door opened to a scowl.

Kanda didn't say much of anything, just moving back into the room and leaving the door open. Harry shut it behind him, moving to the opposite side of the room where his bed was located. Beside it was a nightstand, and he kept he scant belongings underneath the bed. Setting the papers down on the nightstand, he opened the drawer and pulled out a muscle relaxant pill that the Matron had given him several days before, when he'd sprained his ankle. He took one, set the rest back inside, shut the drawer, and turned.

They didn't speak, though they left at the same time. It seemed they were going the same way, and Harry found he didn't really mind. So long as they weren't arguing, and the other wasn't trying to bash his head in, their silences were rather comfortable. When they reached the cafeteria, Kanda moved away to go inside, and Harry gave a small wave and a 'see you later', and received a small grunt in exchange.

He was amused by the Finder who was approaching from the opposite end, because the other had such an expression of blank shock. Feeling rather cheery, he waved before passing them.

The door to Komui's office was closed, but then he wasn't all too surprised about that. He knocked, rather loudly this time, and was a little surprised when he heard a crash inside. A little worried, he called,

"Komui?"

There was silence and stillness for several long seconds before he heard,

"Yes, yes, every thing's fine in here, who is it?" It was Komui's voice, but the other sounded a little panicked.

"You're the one who asked me to come by," He replied with a small roll of his eyes, "And I wanted to ask you something too."

"...Yes well, hold on!"

There was another crash, some interesting choice words, and then the door flew open to reveal a rather harried Komui, his hat almost falling off and his jacket askew.

"How can I... Oh! Harry, sorry about that," The man laughed rather loudly, and he thought he saw something moving behind the Supervisor, "Come in, I'm just uh... finishing up."

Things were messier than usual inside, and there seemed to be mechanical parts laid around everywhere. Komui were quick to gather these up and place them in a box before kicking it under the table.

"Have a seat!" He exclaimed, and Harry stared doubtfully at the couch which was full of papers, folders, and other small things he wasn't sure how they got there, "What did you want to ask me?"

"Well," He sat on the arm of the chair instead, "First, I wanted to thank you for those articles and things, about my parents."

"Anytime."

"And I wanted to ask you about going to Godric's Hollow. I'd like to go, myself, and see if there's anything I can find?"

"Is that you're only reason?" Komui's eyes sharpened as he leaned on the edge of his desk. For a moment Harry scrambled to gather himself to answer a positive, but the other's gaze was so similar to Dumbledore's all knowing one, that what instead came out of his mouth was,

"No," He mentally cursed himself, "I also wanted to see the house that... I use to live in. And my parent's graves."

"I see," The Chinese man's glasses shined, hiding his eyes, "There's a small problem with that."

"What? A problem that I want to go, or a problem with my reasons?"

"Well, mostly your reasons. See, if you simply thought there might be something useful in Godric's Hollow, I wouldn't have a problem with you going."

"What's so wrong with wanting to see my parents graves?" Harry asked angrily, his temper rising, "It's not like it'll take very long at all! An hour, give or take."

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with that," Komui sighed, "The problem lies in that you're a very emotional person, Harry, and there's no doubt that _He_ will know. And I know that he wouldn't give up a chance to eliminate you, however that chance came along."

"You could be wrong," Harry insisted, "What if there's nothing lying in wait there?"

"You could be right," The other held his hands up defensively, "But you could be wrong, and that has the most detrimental consequences than the other."

He opened his mouth to argue angrily, but he was cut off,

"Though I never said you couldn't go."

"...What?" He blinked several times, and had to fix his glasses when they shifted too far down his nose.

"You are your own person, and I am not your superior. You may leave whenever you see fit," The other explained patiently, "The problem with that, of course, is that the exorcists have to have my permission to go as well. I said I would help, and I will. I will permit Allen, Lavi, and Kanda, if he so wishes, to come with you, but I ask that you wait until either tomorrow or the day after."

At first nothing was sinking in, but then it did, and Harry felt his anger melting away. When had he ever been aloud to be his own person before? Never, really. Not when he'd been at the Dursley's, not when he'd been at school, though he had gotten away with a lot. Not when he went with Dumbledore, not for his whole life, because it was always dictated by others.

"...Thank you," He settled on saying, feeling a little touched for reasons beyond his control.

"Of course," Komui replied with a soft smile, "I would suggest that you take Lavi, and two others, though I won't limit you to Allen and Kanda. Give me a day, come back sometimes tomorrow afternoon around this time."

"Alright... Thank you.... What else did you want me here for?"

"Huh?" The soft look on the other's face fell, turning to confusion.

"The note? It said to come by when I found the time, remember?"

"Oh!" The other's face lit up, "Right. That was because there was somebody who wanted to meet you, but that was a bit ago. He left back to his Branch, though he did mention he'd be back. It's been awhile, so I imagine he'll be back soon."

"Meet me? What for?" He frowned thoughtfully.

"Well, that I'm not sure. I wasn't really listening, he tends to talk a lot about annoying things," The other shrugged slightly, and added, "I'll be sure to send someone for you when he comes back, if you don't mind?"

"No, go ahead, I guess," Harry blinked, shrugged, and stood, "Then, it that's all...?"

"Go on. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Alright, later," He walked around the couch, thoughts mulling around in his head, and crossed the room. He reached the door and then heard something strange. He paused.

When it suddenly burst open, it was perhaps only because he'd already been suspicious that he was able to jerk back fast enough. He felt the wind as it passed on his nose, a hair away, and he fell backwards in his instability caused by his quick actions.

He stared at the door, having slammed into the wall and causing small spider cracks from the handle, in disbelief.

"Komui!" The voice was loud and boisterous, and he looked up, eyes still wide, "I'm back for-! Hey, kid, what're you doing on the ground? I know the Great Me is awesome, but there's no need to grovel..."

"I believe you've just narrowly missed giving brain damage to him, stupid," Komui approached quickly, frowning at the newcomer and nudging Harry, "You okay there?"

"I... Almost just had my head knocked off," He replied in disbelief, staring still, "What was that?! Don't people knock anymore?!"

"Eh? What were you doing standing behind the door then?" The stranger asked, rubbing his cheek. While Harry continued to stare, Komui chuckled and added,

"Well, at least we know those training sessions are doing _something_."

Harry turned his stare to a glare at the Supervisor, who held out a hand to help him up. He contemplated ignoring it, but in the end grasped in anyway. He was pulled to his feet easily, and he frowned at the stranger.

"Well then," The other grinned, "You should be more careful, Bak, it's inadvisable to go around knocking heads off the people you want to meet."

"Eh?! This is Harry Potter?" The stranger was suddenly in his face, his strange eyes wide, "Ah, then I apologize!"

"This is the one...?" He looked to the other, who gave a small nod. He turned back to the stranger, "um, okay. And you are?"

"Bak Chan, Head Supervisor of the China Branch of the Black Order," The man introduced himself, sweeping his arm through the air widely before bowing, "Pleasure to meet you, Harry Potter."

"I'd like to say the same..." Harry didn't finish the though because it seemed obvious. It was hard to say you were glad to meet somebody under those circumstances. The other didn't seem to notice.

"I wanted to talk to you about your magic," Bak explained as he stood up straight, "I've always been interested, but you see, my own magic was never strong enough, nor... normal enough to be included in the magical realm."

"You have magic?" Harry's surprise was enough to let him forget the previous distrust.

"Oh yes! My family line, in fact," Bak exclaimed, "We have a certain type, however, and I wanted to know more about your type. Perhaps we could work out an exchange?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Komui interrupted.

"What, exactly, is your type?" Harry ignored the other, curiously watching the other Supervisor.

"Well, you could say Blood Magic, but that's not quite right," Bak replied, "Like I said, perhaps an exchange? How would you feel about visiting the Asia Branch for a little while?"

"Hey, Bak, I never said you could do that," Komui interrupted again, "Besides, he's got a full plate at the moment. Maybe next week."

"You're not his mother!" Bak pouted, "Let the boy make his own decisions! So, Harry, what do you say?"

Harry was aware of Komui, who had moved just outside of Bak's range of vision, was making a cutting sign at his throat with a grimace. Harry frowned, wondering why the other didn't want him to go, but he really did want to know about this so called 'Blood Magic', so he shrugged.

"Well, I can't today, or tomorrow, or I don't know when. When I get the chance, I wouldn't mind," Bak's eyes lit up happily, while Komui hung his head, "But I don't know when that'll be."

"Oh, no problem! I'm sure that Komui will ensure that you can when you have time," The other grinned, "Isn't that right, Komui?"

"Certainly," though the man's voice was flat.

"And anyway, just stop by whenever, no need to be formal!"

Harry rose an eyebrow curiously. He wondered how, exactly, he was suppose to just 'stop by' when, if the Branch was apply named, he had to go to China. He opened his mouth to nod and agree, but then Komui stepped in,

"Yes yes, he has your message, now get out of my office, please."

"But, the Great M-"

Bak was shoved out of the room, the door slammed in his face. For a moment, there was silence.

"Was that really necessary?" Harry finally asked.

"You have no idea," Came his reply, followed by a sigh. The other moved back toward his desk, plopping down into his chair.

"Why don't you want me to go to the Asia Branch?" Harry glanced at the other and set his hand on the doorknob.

"Well, I just don't want you to get too distracted, that's all," The man sighed again, "Bak's 'Blood Magic'... I don't know how popular that is in your community, but it's rather something else. Honestly, I don't think you would be able to pull that off, and I don't want you to worry about not being able to do it when you're already trying to accomplish other things."

"Oh..." He looked at his feet, a little embarrassed, "Sorry. I'm just really curious about it."

"It's alright. You can go when you have some better time, but you have to promise me something in return."

"...Alright."

"Promise that after that visit, if you cannot preform or use whatever magic he'll show you, or don't think you can, as I'm sure you will try to do or learn, then you will not pursue it anymore."

Komui's expression was serious, and so Harry nodded wordlessly. After a moment, the other seemed satisfied,

"Alright then. Go along, finish up your day. Remember, come back here tomorrow, with whoever you're bringing, alright?"

"Okay. Thank you for your help."

And he meant that. He was truly grateful for all that the Order had done for him so far. He left the office then, walking along the corridor, deep in thought. He saw a few Finder's and a couple Scientists along the way. The Finders watched him curiously, while the scientists gave him a polite nod. He always replied in kind, and at first he headed back toward the library, but then he decided that he wasn't going to be able to concentrate on much of anything, so he paused in the hallway.

He was in the middle of several turns. One to his right, one to his left, and another hallway going straight forward. He blinked, not quite recognizing the area, and then shrugged. What was it Allen had said once? 'Move forward'. Though he still didn't know what that meant, he gave a small smile and walked through the intersection and down the hallway before him. He wondered where it would take him.

__--*--__

A/N: I kind of like this chapter, even though it's not particularly exciting. It's longer that usual, mostly because when I was writing yesterday, I kind of got into it and got half the whole thing done, but it wasn't to where I wanted to stop when I got to the usual spot. So yeah, hope you liked it.

Haha, I got distracted again, because I saw a video of Vic Mignogna (Sp? Ed Elrics' voice actor) yelling "This is Spartaaaaa~!" in Ed's voice. It was hilarious.

Anyways, review please, still the only reason I'm updating! :D


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Has anyone read the new DGM chapter?! I'm a little sad that's it's not actually coming back (I was all geared up for regular updates again, too) until November, but hey, 51 pages is better than nothing. I don't want to spoiler those that haven't but... it's really hard... I wanted to friggin' know what happened!

Anyways, there is relevance to the story! And the fact is, is that because I know nothing of any of the new Noah(s), including (SPOILER) how Jasdevi, seeing how serious they looked, and how Jasdero didn't have a stitched mouth anymore, and all the other new Noah (SPOILER) act. Or their abilities. Then I can't really put them in here. I really hate that because I always wanted to stick as close to the story line as I could, on both sides, but it seems that everyone might as well consider this thing AU from now on. D;

But in other news, who liked the Noah(s) new outfits? (Especially Tyki's!!! Gotta draw that soon)

__--*--__

Harry frowned, nearly lost in thought as he wandered in the vague direction of the Supervisor's office. It was where he was suppose to be going; However, he was a bit earlier than what he'd told the others to show up. He had his invisibility cloak under one arm, a sandwich in the other. It was a little past lunch, and he hadn't been hungry, but Lenalee had insisted he get something, anything at all, to eat. In the end, he'd only relented because she had went and gotten it for him because he'd been too engrossed in the book he'd had. The sandwich had laid almost forgotten for nearly an hour before he'd remembered it was there.

He bit into it again, lazily turning a corner into another long white hallway decorated with nostalgic suits of armor and paintings here and there. His footsteps echoed just slightly – he'd been practicing keeping the noise down when walking through the halls because it had seemed so loud before.

Speaking of loud, he tilted his head curiously when he heard the strangest sound. It sounded like something rolling just down another hallway not far, probably connected to the one he was in now, and he would've brushed it off as a scientist rolling something somewhere, but it seemed quite fast. His frown deepened, and the sound quickly swallowed up the sound of his own footfalls. Within moments, what was nearly a blur slid around the corner from a branching off hallway not far in front of him.

He realized rather quickly that it was the only child he'd seen around the base lately. The boy was on what looked to be roller-blades, and when he caught sight of Harry, began to let out a high pitched cry of surprise and alarm.

There was a 'thunk' of sound as they collided, and then complete silence.

Harry slowly looked down at the kid, who was plastered up against his front. The force hadn't been enough to knock him over, but he'd caught the back of kids shirt so he didn't fall over. He got a really good close up look of the strange ball in the kids forehead when the other slowly looked up. His face was so amusing, Harry couldn't help smile.

Then a tomato slipped from his sandwich and landed with a wet splash against the kids forehead.

For a moment, nothing moved. Then, the other flung himself backwards, and the roller-blades kept him going until he hit the wall. He quickly threw the slice away, and Harry watched it slide down the wall almost mournfully.

"You!" The kid exclaimed, pointing rather unnecessarily, "You're that one guy!"

"...Yep," He took another bite out of his sandwich slowly, knowing 'that one guy' was probably indeed him.

"You! You! You're... Is it true that you're a.... you're a... a-" The kid fumbled for what he wanted to say, though whether it was in disbelief or otherwise, Harry wasn't sure.

"I'm a wizard. Is that what you were asking?"

"But!" The other sputtered for a moment, waving his arms around rather wildly, "Magic doesn't exist!"

"You think so?" He asked conversationally, "Well, if you say so. Really though, I would've said the same about Innocence a few months ago. Is that what you wanted to ask so badly?"

"What're you talkin' about?" The kid leaned forward with a small little glare, hands pressed against the wall behind him.

"Well, I just thought that you might've been pretty bloody interested in something to follow me around so long," He shrugged, and then went to take another bite from his sandwich.

"I-! I wasn't-!"

"Harry!" The kid's declaration of innocence was halted by Allen, who appeared at the end of the hall with a large wave. Harry returned it with a small grin, and as the other approached, Link appeared not far behind.

"Oh!" Allen blinked, looking at the stranger in faint surprise, "You must be Timothy, right? I'm Allen Walker."

"Why doesn't that name sound familiar...?" Harry wondered quietly, putting his hand to his chin thoughtfully. Link looked down at the kid, who stared up rather defiantly, though perhaps a bit nervously.

"The new exorcist, isn't that right?" The man looked to Allen and added, "Certainly you've met before now, you've been back for a couple weeks now, Walker."

"I'm... actually, I'm surprised too," The exorcist blinked several times, "I've been so busy... Sorry. But it's nice to meet you."

"Well, I never said it was nice to meet you!" Timothy stuck out his tongue, his eyes darting around, and then he darted through the widest open space between Harry and Link. His form disappeared around the nearest corner.

"...What did I say?" Allen wondered in bewilderment.

"I hear that one hasn't much manners," Link mentioned, "He's been giving a bit of trouble to the superiors and the Matron."

"Wait... Did you say 'exorcist'?" Harry asked in surprise and disbelief, "He's so young! You can't honestly expect him to go through... go through all _that_, do you?"

"Unfortunately, it is the Innocence that picks the exorcist, and not the other way around," Link replied calmly, "Perhaps it is better to say that he's not on active duty yet. He's currently being trained by General Cloud Nyne, and until she deems him fit, he'll remain here, or in her custody."

This didn't make Harry feel much better though, as he thought that it was unfair the child would have to go through any of that at all. However, he couldn't find it in himself to either disagree or argue, because he understand that some things were unavoidable – such as the use of using another's life for the betterment or protection of others. It was, for example, his own duty.

"Komui's waiting, isn't he?" Allen interrupted his thoughts a little somberly, "We should go to him, before he thinks of some notorious plan."

"As he's likely to do," Link grumbled, falling in step with them as they began walking toward the same destination.

Komui was there when they arrived, but Lavi and Kanda were not, which was apparent the moment they opened the door. Komui, however, invited them in with a rather large grin, and Allen asked slowly,

"Did you miss something? You seem awfully happy today..."

"I don't know about _happy_, I'm certainly not _happy_ you're leaving," The Chinese man replied, his smile dimming slightly before lighting back up, "However, I do have something for Harry here, that the scientists worked on for the past week or two."

"For me?" Harry shook his head slightly, uneasy and feeling a little guilty, "I don't need anything, really."

"Well, of course you don't need it, but it might be helpful, even if only a little," Komui approached and took his shoulder, leading the wizard to his desk, where he pulled out a box that was almost large. He placed it the younger boys hands with a smile.

"You are not an exorcist, so I can't give you a uniform. But this is made out of the same resistant and durable materials that the exorcist uniform's are made out of. Of course, you don't have to wear it, but when I came up with the idea, Johnny was pretty adamant about making it. He even did most of the work."

Harry moved to open it, feeling his chest tighten slightly, but the other placed a hand of top of it, closing the box. He looked up hesitantly.

"Go put it on, let us see if it fits. You can always take it off if you don't like it."

He was guided to the bathroom, which was a door in the same room. The inside was large, spacious, and he felt a little self conscious standing in it. After a moment, he hesitantly set the box down on the sink, opening the lid and placing it on the toilet.

Inside, the first thing he saw were boots. They were folded awkwardly to fit, and he admired them. They weren't as tall as the exorcist boots – they might reach his mid calf. They were black, shiney, and had similar zippers though, and after pulling them out, he set them carefully on the floor. Under them was the under shirt, which was basically just one of the training outfit shirts that he'd gotten before. Same turtle-neck, and this one was sleeveless, formfitting. Under that was the pants, which were also quite similar to the exorcist uniform, and as he held them, they felt firm and tough under his fingers. Under that was a belt that he set on top of the pants to the side.

There was a coat at the bottom. It was black as well, that was no surprise. It was fairly simple; It reached his mid-theigh, had a hood, long sleeves, and small slits on the sides to allow free movement. There was a large zipper that ran down the middle, but there were two others on either side that extended halfway down. He wasn't sure what the purpose of those were, but they looked cool. In place of the cross of the Vatican, there was a simplistic golden phoenix; it was small, nothing special, but it caught his eye immediately. There was a string of what seemed to be beads hanging over his chest, extending from one collar bone to the other. Other than those, there were a couple of silver linings, which served to differentiate from the exorcist uniforms as well as the seem similar.

He put these all on carefully. The pants and shirt were very comfortable, and completely easy to move in. The boots were firm, and they felt like an extension to his feet, easy to move in as well. The coat was his favorite part, honestly, though it had the stiffness new clothes usually had. The outfit made him feel a little closer to them, feel a little stronger, or at least a little more confident.

He placed the clothes he'd changed out of into the box, and then turned to enter the office again. He felt a little taller when their gazes landed on him, but he attributed it to the boots.

"Look at that," Komui smiled widely, "Wonderful! How does it feel? Comfortable? Easy to move in? Stiff, does it pinch at all?"

"It's great," Harry replied honestly, "The coats a little stiff, but that's probably because it's new, right?"

"Correct, it'll go away here soon with a little exercise, I expect," The other nodded, "What do you think?"

"It's great!" He tugged at the sleeves, then the bottom of the coat, "I really like it, but I don't know if I can accept it. Everyone has already helped me out so much already, and I really appreciate it-"

"It's no problem. Keep it, nobody else would be able to wear it other than you anyway. I'll tell Johnny you liked it, I'm sure he'll be really happy."

He could only nod. He really did like the outfit, and he appreciated the thought, but it felt a little awkward because he'd been so use to robes. However, he'd been told it had protective properties, and since Johnny had spent so much time working on it (So that's where he's been hurrying off to lately!) he decided to keep wearing it, for this little mission at least. He re-entered the bathroom, grabbed his wand, and then realized that it didn't fit in his pockets very well, comparatively. He kept it in hand instead as he exited and moved to the couch, where he sat beside Allen.

It did not take long. Lavi and Kanda both appeared together, and Lavi was the first to mention his new change of clothes. He mentioned it jokingly but with a compliment or two mixed in there, and Harry felt vaguely embarrassed but mostly amused. Once they were all together, Komui donned a serious expression and pulled a large map onto his desk.

"This was rather hard to get my hands on, you know, so admire it gently."

"What's there to admire?" Kanda scoffed.

"Hey, it's so old, it looks like a piece of history," Lavi grinned and wagged his eyebrows in amusement, "Where'd you manage to find it? And what is it anyway?"

"It's a map of Godrics Hollow, of course," Komui sounded as if he expected the answer to be obvious, "And how I came upon it is unimportant. Now then."

Lavi, Allen, and Harry shared a knowing look that was a mix of exasperation and vague amusement. Their attention was quickly drawn back as the superior began speaking again, circling a small cluster of symbols with his pointer finger,

"This map is fairly old, as you can tell, but I believe it's accurate enough for our purposes. This here is the main, and mostly 'muggle' population, which is mostly residential, but partially commercial as well. This here," Komui's finger glided not even an inch across the paper, tapping another area, "It where the 'Magical' population generally live. Right here, next to it, is the graveyard. There are three exits to the graveyard, but the best one is...-"

Harry listened to the briefing. He was almost amazed, though he felt he shouldn't be. Whenever he'd done those supposed 'missions' as Dumbledore's Army, he hadn't ever put together something as detailed as this. He'd never thought to look so far ahead as to study the area and figure out all entrances, exits, hills and coverage, though in hindsight that seemed even more foolish.

The mission briefing was obviously a normal thing, and since the town was much smaller than the general areas of countryside or whatnot that the exorcists usually traveled, Komui could go much more into depth about them. The area around his old house was covered extensively, as was the graveyard, and they quickly made preemptive plans in case they were separated or whatever the case might be. It was all a little tough to absorb and remember, but he did his best.

Afterwards, they gathered themselves and then started to head out, meeting Johnny who crashed head long into Allen. Johnny wished them all luck, and then gave Harry something that had only narrowly been finished in time.

It turned out to be a fairly simple Wand brace that latched on his inner forearm, and it fit snuggly and made hiding and retrieving it much easier than normal. It took only the slightest, though certain, movement to do so, and with a little practice it was quite easy.

After which, they left quickly and with full intention of getting it over as quick as possible. It was not a long trip; After going through the general route, apparating was easy enough. Within the hour, they found themselves outside the town nearest to both the house, and the graveyard.

Before entering, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak and donned it. It was a bit more comfortable now that he had something vaguely resembling a robe on. It took only a few moments before he felt the effects. He drew up the hood and focused on the feeling of almost weightlessness. His body disappeared from view completely, and without a word, so did his companions.

They had an already agreed upon plan, in which they all spent most, if not all, of their time invisible. It was much safer that way.

The exorcists and Link spread out a bit, forming a rather large square of perimeters, taking places at the corners of the graveyard, which they slipped into easily. They didn't have any particular time preference or understanding, but Harry was under the impression they meant to give him however much he'd like.

This turned out to be a good thing, because there was a large number of gravestones, of all shapes and sizes, and he wasn't sure how he was suppose to find the two in particular he was looking for.

The light covering of snow crunched under his feet as he moved further in after his initial staring. He began to move up and down the makeshift isle's between the rows of headstones, eying each one he passed and feeling his heart rise to his throat in anticipation, only to fall like stone when it was not the one. It was around sunset, and the dying light cast off the ice around him beautifully, but he was too anxious to truly notice. Another headstone passed, and it was another he didn't recognize, had never even heard of. At one point he came across an Abbot, who he felt like exclaiming almost excitedly out loud, but then he realized he had nobody to exclaim it to.

Then he came across other pair of graves in particular that he would not have recognized if not for the last name or the excerpt of the biography of Dumbledore the Komui had given him.

One was dedicated to Kendra Dumbledore, and then under it 'and her daughter Arianna'. He felt his breath catch in something akin to shock. He'd been somewhat aware that his old teacher had had a family, and that they had lived in Godric's Hollow, but seeing there real graves was really putting it in perspective. It made it more real, more tangible, and he dusted some snow from the top before reading the quotation that came with the inscriptions. 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart also.'

It all felt almost terribly intimate, even though he'd never known. His parents and Dumbledore's were buried here, under this same soil, in this same graveyard. He'd never known, throughout these long years, and now it made him wonder: What else did he not know? What had he never bothered asking, what had Dumbledore never bothered to mention? He felt almost accusatory, that the great old wizard should have said something. In fact, he could imagine what kind of bond they could have had, could imagine standing in this graveyard together years before and lamenting their loss together. But it seemed that Dumbledore didn't think the fact their families lay side by side were important, perhaps because it was irrelevant to the job he'd wanted Harry to do.

He shook himself – this wasn't what he was here to do, and he'd been doubting Dumbledore so much lately that there seemed to be a constant haze of guilt at the very thought of him. Left here, without a clue as to how he was suppose to do what had been the other's last wish; Save the world indeed.

So he moved onto the next few graves, on and on until he saw a strange triangular engraving on one headstone that he only made out because of of the dying sunlight and ice that had frozen over it. It was peculiar to look at, and he could have sworn he'd seen it before, somewhere sometime. He read the name 'Ignotus' but then lost interest again. He couldn't recall where he'd heard or seen it, so after staring for a good few long moments and not having any kind of epiphany, he moved on.

He began seeing some familiar names that seem linked to people he'd met, like Abbot, which was curious but certainly not what he was looking for. Every new gravestone he came to brought a little more apprehension. Before he'd noticed much time at all had passed, he looked up to discover that the sun was completely set, and the distant music from deeper in town had stopped. Hoping he wasn't annoying his company, he tried to hasten his search.

And then, all at once, he happened upon them. He almost missed it, had, in fact, read it and moved on before realizing what he'd seen and backtracking.

They were made of white marble, just like Dumbledore's tomb, just like the Black Order headquarters, so it seemed to shine brighter than the others, mixing in beautifully with the snow.

As he knelt and pulled the hood of the cloak back, tracing the inscriptions of their names and lifespans, he felt the grief hit him like a sucker-punch, almost making him kneel over. Here before him, under him really, was what was left of his parents and only real family, in his eyes. His eyes landed on the engraving under his parents names.

'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.'

His breathing stopped for a moment, and he felt his eyebrows knit together. Wasn't that a Death Eater philosophy? What was it doing here, on his parent's graves? He felt his heart speed up in worry and feint disbelief. His parents certainly weren't Death Eater's, and they weren't Voldemort supporters. So why_ was it here?_

His mind whirled, and he felt a strange kind of panic at seeing it there. He could see no reason for it. However, he loved his parents unconditionally, and he believed in them. If it was truly a Death Eater idea, then it wasn't placed there by his parents, this he believed in firmly.

He stared at the white ground under him sadly, feeling his chest tighten and his throat close painfully. He felt utterly lost and bare to the world, and for a moment he wished to be down there, sleeping eternally with them instead of up here, where the world was piled on his shoulders; And he could say that quite literally if he wanted.

"But wouldn't it be so much better if they were up here instead?" He jumped at the voice, and his head snapped up painfully fast as a shadow fell over him.

He'd heard none approach, and that was quite the feat with so much snow on the ground. However, then he got a good look at the figure before him. It wasn't someone he recognized, but then, he didn't think this was a person he would want to know at all personally. He had an almost comical appearance, large and English and had the strangest face and skin color.

"Don't you think?" He could almost hear the sugar in the other's voice.

"...Who are you?"

"Ah, but it doesn't matter who I am," The strangers hand ran across the top of Harry's parent's headstones, and it felt almost like an insult. The other's eyes followed his gaze to the stones, and added, "Would you like me to bring them back for you?"

He quickly wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, scrubbing the first signs of his tears away, and frowned suspiciously, idly wondering why there was such a tickling of recognition at the back of his mind.

"That's impossible. Not even magic can bring someone back to life."

"Oh, but anything is possible!" The voice of this stranger was strange, rather creepy, and if it wasn't for the fact that Harry was positive that he was not only not alone, but that he'd be running on his parent's grave, then he would've already made a hasty retreat.

"It's very easy, for me. I could bring them back for you, if you'd like. Would you like that?"

"I don't believe you," And then, all at once, Harry realized that there was only one person who had the supposed ability to bring back the dead, and he struggled to keep his face completely natural, "As much as I want them back..."

"Yes...?"

"You can't help me," He replied instead, taking one step backwards, "You can't bring the dead back to life. Not truly."

He was careful not to turn around and walk away. One of the first rules drilled into his brain – never turn your back to anyone particularly threatening, and preferably, anybody at all. The large stranger chuckled, but it sounded much less amused and a little more malevolent. The other leveled his strange umbrella at Harry and said,

"Are you so sure? Imagine all that you could have again, if only you would take the chance..."

But he wasn't that gullible. If he were to be completely honest, he could say he longed to say yes, yes, yes. If he hadn't been aware of who this stranger was, and what would happen if he agreed, then he was positive that he would have agreed. But he did know, so he shook his head resolutely.

"That is too bad," He shivered at the suddenly cheerful and yet threatening voice. The he watched as behind the Millennium of Earl, hoards of large circular akuma rose in front of the moon. There were so many that he wasn't able to even make a vague guess. It was as if he was in a dream upon seeing it, and he wasn't sure suddenly if he really was dreaming or not.

"Oh, I knew you were interesting, Har~ry," The voice sounded strangely familiar to him, and he watched as if in slow motion as a younger girl passed right by him, hands clasped behind her slender back as she took her place at the Earl's side.

"You-! You're from the train station!" Harry exclaimed, feeling the need to point this out aloud or else it would be proved untrue. The Earl looked down at the girl in a strangely normal way, slightly disapproving and annoyed, and she smiled so widely and innocently that Harry would have never guessed she was partly responsible for so many deaths.

"It's okay Earl, Tyki was with me," She spoke with a smooth tone, "I just wanted to see who he was. He's not as interesting as Allen, but it's something."

"Road-tama!" And he might've been amazed by the talking umbrella if he hadn't seen stranger talking things.

"I did warn you, Harry," Road spoke sweetly, and he was amused to note that it didn't _sound_ like she was threatening his life, "Tom says that he wants to see you alive, but I'm just so excited, I might, accidentally..."

"Now now, you know you're not suppose to call him that," The Earl admonished, unperturbed by her announcement. She gave a slight pout, but that was about all, in response.

Within seconds, he had his hood up and his wand in his hand, disappearing from view and trying to decide the best way of escape. He recalled the closest exit immediately, and lunged toward it. He felt immensely glad that the Innocence in his cloak made him immaterial, so he didn't leave tracks in the snow. Hopefully, it would leave him immune to whatever they might throw at him from behind.

Heart rising to his throat, he tried to drown out the pounding in his ears, which was his own blood, by focusing on any sound of someone following. He faintly wondered why he could hear no destruction or chaos from the akuma. Then the girl appeared before him, halting him in his tracks, and he had only a moment to feel the panic and bewilderment that she could locate him.

"That's not very nice," She said. Over her shoulder, he saw Allen, Innocence activated and charging full speed ahead, Link not far behind. He realized he couldn't hear anything at all, very suddenly, and slowly he looked back at Road, who smiled. She tilted her head in a way that he might have described as cute, if she was so evil, and her voice rose above all in the surrounding silence that he was sure only he was aware of,

"Sweet Dreams."

Then he was falling, falling, down into darkness, and he feared what he would find when he would stop.

__--*--__

A/N: What ever happened to Rero anyway? He's been suspiciously absent, and then the Earl was carrying around a cane instead... Anyways, I kept the 'tama' because there's no real translation to it. It's pretty much just the same as 'sama', I think, but cutesy or something like that. I always stay away from suffix endings like that because, well, I speak English, and I'm not Japanese, or even Asian. Also, the characters are speaking English, so why would they was Japanese suffix endings? But Rero is special, and I think, if I remember right, he put that on all the Noah's names? So it's a lot like how he puts 'Rero' on the end of anything.

I don't think there's anything else. Drawing a picture of the new, nearly completely Noah family. While looking at the title page of the new chapter, where Kanda's hair is wavy in the same way as Noah-Allen's, I had a bit of an idea, haha, or a theory. (Though it seems impossible because of the whole 'Second Exorcist' thing.)

Anyways, hope you liked it, and please review! (Where has everyone been lately?)


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Hmm, what to say. In this chapter, or should I say the whole thing between Harry and Road, was something I wanted to do, but didn't know what to do with it. And then I got an idea, but it was a vague one that wasn't enough. But I'm going to start writing anyway and see what comes out, haha. Hopefully it's not too cliché or anything.

Also, because a couple of people asked what Harry's new outfit from the last chapter was, I went ahead and drew it. For those who are curious, you can see it here (http ://jade ookami. deviant art. com/art/TAFD-Harry-s-Change-134621591). Take out spaces.

One more thing. Small warning. I don't know if it's actually necessary, but I figured I'd put it anyway. This chapters kinda a little more darker, but I don't think it's too bad? The bit about Ron was a little freaky to myself, since I can imagine it so well...

__--*--__

Harry felt almost weightless – like he was floating in the air with no support, or maybe underwater. He felt a haze over his mind, like he was in a dream. He didn't know what kind of dream it was, whether it was a good one or not, but the feeling he had now was pleasant enough that he didn't want to open his eyes yet. It felt almost like a release, like a small break.

There was a small breeze that caressed his face, and it was puzzling enough that his eyes slid open almost immediately. He noticed, first, that he was standing, and that there was what appeared to be solid ground under his feet. He couldn't help think it strange; he tapped the rock with his toes just to make sure, and the sound reverberated around him.

Wasn't he suppose to be somewhere important? When this thought came to him, his eyes narrowed and he frowned. He had this nagging at the back of his mind that he was. But where would that be?

He heard a soft, girlish giggle that surrounded him. His head snapped up and and he began looking around, only to realize that there was nothing to see. He was surrounded by eternal darkness; the rock he stood on faded into the darkness just a couple feet around him. The giggle sounded again, and then he thought he heard his name, whispered softly, almost lovingly.

"Who's there?" He called cautiously, his hand going for his wand only to find that it wasn't there. He crushed his panic viciously, because panic made a person stupid, and instead tried to remember where it was, and how he'd gotten here.

There it was again – his name, whispered on non-existent winds. This time, however, it came from one specific direction, just ahead.

"Who's there? Answer me!" He was proud to notice that his voice didn't show his nervousness, and he once again checked for his wand, just in case. It still wasn't there, but he wasn't surprised this time. He took a cautious step forward, using the tip of his toes to feel out the area for fragile surfaces or jutting edges.

The rock was quite slippery, as if from water. He almost slipped on his second step, catching himself at the last moment and taking a few moments to himself to calm his beating heart. He heard his name again, a little louder, a littler less lovingly, and he fought a shiver at the sound. He suddenly didn't want to look for the source anymore, not if he would find somebody less than pleasant.

"Harry," The suddenty was so startling that he could have sworn he jumped at least a foot in the air, and he wasn't the least bit humorous. The voice was wistful, pleading, sad. He spun around his heart hammering, and almost cried out.

The area was suddenly lit – he recognized the underground cavern better than he did most places, because he dreamt about it so often. It occurred to him that the slippery rock had been a big clue. There were torches now, placed around the small island and lighting up the cavern, and that was the first thing that alerted him something was wrong. After all, it hadn't been that way the first time.

Standing in front of the bowl that had held the locket was Dumbledore, his head bowed humbly, his hands covering his face as if in shame. He felt confused, uncertain, but more than anything, he felt something was very, very wrong.

"Sir?" He hesitated to move forward, "Professor?"

"Harry..." Dumbledore's voice was filled with shame and sadness, pleading for his to _understand_, but what was it he needed to know?

"Sir? What's wrong?" A bad feeling was creeping up his spine, and he struggled to remember.

"Harry... How could you?... You were... our only..."

Goosebumps were rising on his arms. Something was coming, something horrible. He recognized the feeling. Was he really just having a nightmare? If he was, he wanted desperately to wake up.

And then Dumbledore lifted his head and lowered his hands, and Harry realized what had been giving him such a bad feeling. As he looked, he was filled with such a sense of reality; As if everything were so real, so solid, that he was truly here and looking at this terrible thing.

His old professor's face was disfigured, in a horrible, bloody way. His eyes were near swollen shut, and his ears were gone, leaving behind bloody holes and small flesh handing. It was disgusting – but what was worst of all, was that the man's mouth had been sown shut. The threads were dark, stabbed through the old man's lips harshly, bleeding profusely, and as he spoke, the threads tore at the skin and the wounds bled worse.

"You were... the light... but now..."

His horror carried Harry back a step. He didn't think about where he was, only that he wanted to be away. He closed his eyes, mentally chanting 'wake up, wake up!' over and over, hoping that for once in his life, he would wake up.

Then his foot sank into water, and his eyes snapped open in terror.

He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how he'd gotten here. He didn't know where he was suppose to be, only that there was indeed somewhere he should be. However, he did know that there was something in this water – if there memory of this place wasn't enough proof, the feeling he got the moment his foot was submerged was.

His balance wasn't horrible enough for him to fall, so he pushed all his weight forwards, his movements so desperate that the force should have been enough to send him face first into the unforgiving ground. Instead, he found his foot stuck, as if the water itself was holding him prisoner. Something slid against his foot, and in the back of his mind, he wasn't sure sure how he'd felt it, but mostly he was focused on the fact that there was something there.

The moment he saw the hands emerging from the surface, he let out a cry and began throwing himself forward with all his might. He could feel the fear surrounding him, filling him. It was the kind of unadulterated fear that you went through in nightmare's, the kind where you knew something horrible was_ there_, but you didn't know what. He'd had many nightmare's, and he'd gone through many frightening situations, but never had he felt it so keenly, so bone-deep.

"Let go, let go!" His voice cracked, but he wasn't in his right mind to be embarrassed, "Don't touch me, let me go!"

He heard the water rippling, and he shook violently as he clawed at the rock to gain leverage to get him away. He heard that whisper of his name again, and he realized that what he'd heard before had been coming from whatever had a hold of him, and he felt himself shake more as he thought about what would have happened if he'd kept walking and fallen into the water completely.

A wet hand grasped his calf, and he began to kick wildly, but he could barely move his leg at all, the grip was so strong. He chanted 'let go' over and over, eyes wide and frantic. He looked up, and noticed Dumbledore wasn't there anymore – this didn't make him feel any less scared. If anything, it made it worse, because he couldn't stand not knowing, not being able to see where it was.

He threw himself up, and pulled with everything he had. Something started to give, but he wasn't sure if it was whatever it was, or himself.

"Harry..."

He froze. Through his sheer terror, he completely froze. He knew that voice, of course he did. He didn't want to look, didn't want to see what was behind him, but he couldn't help himself. He slowly turned, slowly, feeling time slow in a most realistic manner.

Ron had a hold on his leg. He had half dragged himself out of the water, and he looked much like a zombie from some muggle horror film; His hair was falling out in clumps, his eyes were bleeding and sown shut, his jaw disfigured and dislocated, hanging in a wide mouthed scream. His teeth were sharp, gleaming, and probably was the most untouched thing about him. But he was not the source of the voice Harry had heard.

He was aware of figures slowly emerging from the water, but he was aware of only her: Ginny, who stood on the water itself, a long ragged dress hanging about her slim figure. She was crying tears of blood, and there was a gaping hole in her chest, right where here heart should be.

"We trusted in you," She whispered in the same quiet voice, and and he internally began to curse himself wildly for not recognizing it. He should have, he knew he could, so why hadn't he this time? She began to take steps across the water, and with each step, more figures rose.

"Even though you didn't trust us, we trusted in you."

Harry struggled for his voice, which had frozen up in his fear, and it almost hurt to speak,

"'s not true," His voice was barely legible, more of a croak than anything.

"Lies!" The screech hurt his ears, cut through the relative quiet of the cavern, and he found himself drawn to the macabre figure than was suppose to be Hermione, "Even now, even now! You speak nothing but _lies_!"

"That's not true! I don't.... I don't understand, what's going on?!"

Hermione grabbed his wand arm, and her grip was bruising, he could feel his bones grind together. He grit his teeth painfully, weakly trying to resist, but it was as if her very touch drained him of his strength. Ron grabbed his other foot, drawing up as far as he could on his hands, baring his unnatural teeth.

"Why did you fail us?"

This time it was none other than Neville, who rose up to grasp his other arm and bind him still, his bright, blank, white eyes watching,

"Do we only bring you down, Harry? Do we get in your way? Do you hate us, Harry?"

His voice sounded so much like the real Neville's that Harry clenched his eyes shut, but that only made it worse. He tried to shut out the sounds of the things whispered in his ear, of the increasing hisses and accusations around him as more and more appeared. He felt another hand grab his shoulder, another his hip. He felt more and more hands grab him, bind him, hold him down until he couldn't move an inch. He fear began to climb again, and he gathered his strength,

"It's not true! You're the ones who are lying, let me go!" He tried to struggle, but it only made the grips on him tighten until he was gnashing his jaws together in pain.

"_Stop lying_!" Hermione screamed at him, and she began repeating it, "_Stop lying, stop lying_!"

"I'm not lying!" He screamed back at her, opening his eyes again and faced with countless faces staring back at him, disfigured beyond belief, "Let me go, please!"

"We won't let you go," His head snapped back to star forward, and then he realized that Ginny had not stopped moving forward, and now stood before him. She reached out, and she didn't seem to notice as he flinched away from her.

Her hand disappeared out of his vision, and seconds later, he felt her hands entangle themselves in his hair, yanking his head back hard enough to make him fear she would tear his hair out,

"We'll drag you down with us, Harry. We won't let go, never let go," She shoved her face right before his, and he received a terror inducing close-up of her own bloody disfigurements, "You'll stay here with us, won't you?"

"No... no, I can't stay here!" He tried to pull out of her grip, but it was a weak attempt, "I can't... I have to... have to go back. There's people waiting for me, things I have to do. You can't take that from me."

It sounded more like a plea than anything, a question and not a statement or any kind of defiance. He felt as if he were being crushed. He watched as her face turned furious, and it was worse than even before,

"Waiting for you?! Who's waiting for you, Harry? We would have given up anything for you, but you chose them instead! Will you leave us here to rot?!"

They were like the magic words. In a rush, he remembered everything. The exorcists, himself, what he'd been doing. He remembered that he'd confronted Road, or he should say, that Road had confronted him. He struggled for a moment, but he couldn't recall exactly what Road's ability was – but he could remember that Road was the Noah of Dreams, and if the title was anything at all, then none of this was real. The fear ebbed, but only a bit; It felt too real to be able to squash such extreme feelings. He began to look around, mostly amount the faces, to see if he could recognize her, somewhere, but he wasn't surprised to find that he could not.

"This... This isn't real," He murmured, still feeling a little foolish, muttering this sentence like a child, then, stronger, he repeated it, "This isn't real!"

Ginny screamed at him, at the top of her lungs, and he thought he felt some of his hair finally give.

"Road!" He yelled, unable to stand the sound, "Road!!! I know this is all you! This isn't real, let me out!"

There was a small giggle, and Ginny paled, as if she feared the sound, and she began to look around in horror. The behavior frightened Harry – It was strange, too real, too alive.

"Har~ry," He recognized Roads voice, and he struggled a little, noticing that the other figures of his friends were acting the same as Ginny, "Whatever do you mean?"

She appeared, melting out of the water effortlessly, hands clasped behind her back. Ginny screeched, and then strangely, dove under the water as if to flee. The others acted similarly, though Ron lingered with one last haunting look at Harry that he knew he'd never, ever forget.

"See that Harry, you scared them away! That's no fun," She pouted, but it faded quickly as she approached him, "I didn't think you would remember so quickly! But whatever makes you think this isn't real?"

"Don't try to fool me," He glared, his fear ebbing to be mostly his pounding heart, though he did take a few steps away from the water's edge, "You made them, and you made the run, and you did it to scare me, right? Well, you scared me, are you happy? But this is all in my head, it's not real."

"Just because it's in your head doesn't mean it's not real, Harry, you should know that, since you are so much smarter with magic than I am," She frowned at him, then smiled, "And you are wrong. This isn't all in your head."

"You're lying," He replied angrily, "Let me out."

"I am not!" She looked and sounded affronted, "You see, this is all real. This is what's in your heart. I only gave it the power to move."

"There's no way this is in my heart!" He exclaimed, clenching his hands into fists, "I don't know much about Noah's, but I know myself, and this isn't right!"

"Do you really?" She asked slyly, "Do you, Harry? I was surprised too, you know, I never would have guess that I would find something so gruesome here. I guess it goes to show that I shouldn't expect certain things."

"I don't believe you," He insisted, eyes narrowed, growing frustrated.

"I guess you don't know yourself as well as you thought," She smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile, "You know what else surprised me? I've never seen something quite like it before, it's most interesting. I saw it that first time, at the train station, but I got a close up look just now."

"I don't care," He snapped, feeling his chest tighten in a dread that he didn't understand, but had learned to pay attention to, "What do you want from me, huh? If you want to kill me, then why are you taking so long? Either let me out and leave me alone, or kill me!"

"I never said I wanted to kill you," She hummed softly, "And I don't want anything from you. I thought I'd have a little fun with you myself, but then I got a much better idea. There's someone who wants to see you."

He heard the water ripple again, and it was the slightest of sounds. This time, it came from behind him, and he felt that dread start to escalate again, into that full terror that had gripped him before. He struggled to get a grip on it even as he turned, and he felt his breath catch.

Emerging from the water was a figure that he didn't recognize at first. He thought their hair was black, what with the darkness and the fact that it was wet. And indeed, that in itself was strange, for even though he had felt the other's wet hands, it had been more slick than anything, and he'd never felt it soak into his own clothes. Nor had the water seemed to have altered the other's appearance, such as wet hair or drips of water, or wet clothes. This one though, looked sopping wet as he emerged slowly, gradually, purposefully.

His head lifted, and Harry got a good look into a face identical to his own. It was the same cheekbones, the same mouth, the same skin. But his beloved green eyes that were the same as his mothers was now, mirrored on this replica, blood red and shaped like a snakes. Like Voldemort's.

He walked forward, every step coming closer, and his attachments jingled with each movement. For, attached to his neck, wrists, and ankles, was large metal cuffs that looked too heavy to lift, let along walk in. And to each cuff was a huge metal chain, a little damaged and rusted but still in mostly good shape, that led off into the water.

"Imagine my surprise, Harry," Road spoke, amused, "When I found another one of you in here, with you?"

__--*--__

"Shit!" Lavi curse for not the first time, landing a little too roughly and making the bottom of his feet sting, "Any change?!"

"Not that I can tell," Allen looked over the fallen wizard urgently, checking his vitals, "He seems to have fallen into a trance or something, I can't wake him up!"

"But of course not," Both snapped their attention to Road, who stood on that annoying talking golem, "I thought you'd recognize the symptoms right away, but I guess you've forgotten already."

Allen didn't immediately understand, and he hovered over the older boy with a frown. Lavi, however, gasped softly and looked back at them as if he had discovered something horrible, which, Allen suppose, might've been the case.

"That's right~," Road smiled in amusement, "You can't save him now. He's all on his own, and what a heart he has!"

Allen caught on then – He'd never heard from Lavi what the red hair had seen while under Roads influence in the arc, but he already knew that it was because it was one of those personal things you just don't talk to people about. There had been a small but noticeable change in Lavi's attitude afterward, and he didn't know what kind of thing could have done so to the other, so he worried for Harry, who did not have the same resolutions or resolve. If it had been so close a call for Lavi, what was Harry's chance?

"Let him go, Road, he's got nothing to do with you!" Lavi grit his teeth, gripping his Innocence tightly, "What're you two doing playing for the wizards anyway?!"

"But isn't that what you're doing too?" She asked curiously, "You act as if we're so different, but really, we're really quite similar, you know?"

"Coming from someone who enjoys playing with peoples head and twisting their beliefs!" He snapped, "We're not alike at all, you Noah like nothing more than to destroy everything we work for!"

Allen looked between the two warily, not exactly sure of what to think. Lavi did not usually react so much to... well, anything really, except maybe a threat on his life. It only made Allen worry more for whatever was going on in Harry's head.

"Now now, that's not nice," Road shook her head as if in disappointment, "You should know best that whatever Harry's seeing, it's because it was there all along. In the deepest parts of his heart, he's seeing what's there. Although, I suppose there's a little more to it than that."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Allen stood fully, his silver cloak covering Harry's body just in case.

"You know, there's only suppose to be one person in a body," She replied softly, "But in him is something else, and it's very dark. For someone who's suppose to be the savior, he's got an awful lot of darkness in his heart. Even more than you, Lavi~."

Lavi cursed again, bringing his hammer around and throwing all his force behind it as he swung. It was a fruitless effort, for she dodged with ease and tisked at him like he was a naughty child caught in the act of doing something very bad. Behind her, the akuma hovered malevolently, still as can be. The Earl had left, fleeing in the beginning with a cheery wave. Kanda had left to try and follow with a dangerous amount of anger that seemed uncharacteristic of him, and had yet to return.

"I wonder, how many people can you protect by yourselves?" She murmured, "How many townspeople will die because you're too busy watching over little Harry there?"

"We'll protect everyone," Allen's voice was strong and confident, "What did you come here for Road? For Harry? We won't hand him over."

"Oh, but I wanted to see _you_, Al~len!" She giggled, but it sounded less innocent than normal, "Although, Harry's heart is a little more interesting than I gave him credit for. Tom will be displeased if I break him, but then, he's so very boring."

Lavi's eyes narrowed,

"I don't get it; What do you get out of helping Voldemort?" He asked, "Knowledge? A promise of power?"

"We don't need any kind of power that he can give," She shrugged nonchalantly, "Tom is boring, and a little foolish, but he can give us one thing more than anyone else – Souls. The more he kills in his war, the more akuma we can make."

To Allen, the importance of their involvement in Harry's mission had just gone up a notch or two.

"He won't win," He spoke with the same confidence as before, "I told you and Tyki before, Road – You should fear the humans that oppose you, instead of looking down on them."

"So you did," She smiled secretively, "But this time Allen, Tom is the one underestimating the humans, not us. You should tell him that, but I don't think he'd appreciate it very much. Maybe you'll even get a chance, later. I was suppose to alert him the moment we located Harry, but I'm not done with him yet."

Indeed, Harry still hadn't moved. He looked lifeless. If Allen hadn't checked the other's vitals, he'd have thought the other dead. He was even deathly pale, and he curse not being able to help him. But then again, he wasn't so sure he would've been able to help anyway.

"Now then. I think it's time to cause some chaos, don't you?"

She lifted her arm in the air, and with the barest of twitches, explosions occurred as the akuma let loose a rain of bullets. Lavi was the one to jump into the action first; After all, his enlarging hammer could take out more akuma faster than Allen could. Allen, on the other hand, gritted his teeth and took a step back, over Harry's prone body, and lifted him. Road smiled again, though an unkind one, and turned. She didn't move far, but she had her back to him, watching the destruction with that same smile. He took another step back, unsure of what to do. He certainly couldn't leave Harry here, unguarded, but he couldn't stand here and watch over him either. Not when there was a small army of akuma attacking a defenseless town.

"Walker!!" He turned his head and spotted Link, running at him with full speed. He'd never been so glad to see his watcher.

"Where did you go, Link?" He asked warily, aware that his cursed eye, activated, was spinning a little painfully. He shifted the body in his arms restlessly even as he took the steps forward to meet the other.

"I saw the akuma, and I went to warn the townsfolk. I don't know how much they've managed to evacuate, but I left word to someone in charge, and they were taking measures to leave when I left. What happened here?"

"No time! Watch him, gotta go," Allen replied urgently as they met and he shoved the prone wizard into the other's bewildered arms and then he yelled as he ran towards the battle, "Thanks!"

Link blinked, looking first at Harry, then discreetly to Road, who didn't even spare him a glance in his direction. He faintly frowned and backed away cautiously before taking off back towards the town, muttering under his breath,

"Damn Walker and his trouble tendencies."

__--*--__

A/N: Haha, see? I didn't like it very much, it seemed a little jumpy, and something I can't name. But anyways, the scene with Harry had a little symbolism in it, and if it's not obvious, then it's too discreet. This chapter is also a little shorter than normal.

Also, I heard school is suppose to start this week. I don't start again until next Monday, but for those who have started already, how was your first day?

Reviews please, they are like the blood to this stories soul, haha.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: I'm really sorry about missing last Wed! It's the first time I was late, at least. It was also not my fault – I had this halfway done the day before, but then I come home on Wed and the electric has been shut off. I'm very poor, see, and I'm not joking. Anyways, it's still not on, and I'm sick, and it's been kinda miserable. A horrible omen for the upcoming year, it seems like. My dad pulled a Mcguiver and hooked a converter to a car battery, which is running the computer at the moment. I really hope it's turned back on soon, and I'll do my best to stay on time.

__--*--__

Harry would be lying if he said he wasn't horrified. He'd also be lying if he said he wasn't confused. His whole situation was strange, and quite possibly unheard of – how many people could say that an evil little girl trapped them in their own hearts, facing their subconscious thoughts and fears? For certainly, that was his best guess at what was going on; The appearance of his friends had been horrible and frightening, but he felt that perhaps they weren't completely made up by Road, as had been his first thought.

This though, what was this? His doppleganger was watching him from under his wet hair, and he never moved. It was eerie, definitely, but he wasn't so sure that he could believe this had some significance to his thoughts or fears. He had, at one time, worried that the vast majority had been right, and that he was the next dark lord, but that had only been at his all time lows. It was a fear he hadn't felt in a long time, and it was never a serious one anyway. So what, then, was this thing standing before him? Was it possible to have another person inside his head and he didn't know it? But then, this wasn't taking place in his head, now was it?

The other tilted his head, just slightly, and he heard not a whisper of sound. A shiver ran down his spin; He was frightened pretty badly, but it was a level of fear that he could handle, for now. As long as he wasn't forced into feeling that throat-freezing panic and terror from before, he thought he'd be able to at least think relatively clearly.

"How?" He asked softly, knowing Road was still there, but not looking in her direction, "If this is suppose to be my... 'heart'... how is it there's another 'me' here? Or is this just another illusion after all?"

"Would you like me to prove this isn't an illusion, Harry?" Road asked, and he dared a glance in her direction. He found a small, sweet smile placed on her face that looked toor comfortable and in place there than he thought it should.

"And how would you do that?" He was suspicious, of course he was. He wasn't stupid or naive enough, by now, to not realize that this girl was simply not innocent or even nice. Perhaps it would be better to describe her as sadistic, or at least a little loose in the head.

Her smile widened just a little more, and then small shapes began to mold from the rocky ground beneath him. He couldn't quite tell what they were at first, and he was fairly sure that he never would have guessed they were candles if the wicks didn't lite up the moment they were level with his chest. He quickly decided that whatever it was she wanted to do with those candles, they were way too sharp to be used in his favor.

He almost missed it. He saw them start to move, honestly, but it didn't really register until he heard the whistling that accompanied sharp objects moving very quickly through the air. He'd heard it many times about his own harsh breathing and the silence of the training rooms, marred only by his and his opponents body on the floor. Usually it was Mugan, as Marie's strings did not make nearly as much noise, but whoever it was, they had taught him certain things to react to instantly, whether it was to sight, or sound.

And one of those things was the sound of something sharp aiming for his vitals.

He threw himself to the side before he even knew why he was doing it. His heart was racing, and his adrenaline roared to life once more. There had only been a handful of the candles, and he hoped they didn't follow him. Though, he figured that with his luck, they would.

They moment that his chest came close to the ground, he reached out, letting his arms take most of the shock, and almost immediately rolled to the side again. A sharp pain hit his thigh, and as he rolled, the sharp pain turned throbbing and extremely painful. He ignored this as he pushed himself up, kicking out with his legs, and managed to somehow twist to avoid the only one that had seemed to be still heading for him. It slammed against the ground, flattening like clay, and then lay still.

There were no other candles in sight, but he still reached reflexively for his wand. It wasn't there, of course, and he grit his teeth in frustration. The pain in his thigh escalated, and he had to take a little weight off of one side. He did not look to see what had happened – he kept his eyes trained on Road.

She giggled at him, and must have guessed why he was so frustrated,

"No matter how many times you reach for it, you won't find your wand," She tapped her leg idly, "You're in your heart, remember? You can't use magic here. Well, maybe you can, wandlessly. Tom said that some could do that, you know, but I don't think you can, right?"

He didn't even feel like answering. It felt a bit like a chore at the moment. Everything was so surreal. The pain in his leg was very persistent, and he had no doubt now that whatever this whole thing was, realistic was definitely one way to describe it.

Unfortunately, he discovered that he really was a long way from being any kind of fighter material. He had never been proud of himself during his training, other than the rare compliments he received when he did something particularly well, but there were 'basic rules' that had been drilled in his head over, and over, and over again.

One of the first, was to never, ever, forget about another's presence, and never let them behind you.

To tell the truth, he wasn't entirely sure that when he'd sprang away from Road, he'd gone towards this mirror image instead, but he supposed the details didn't matter at the moment. For, he could feel those wet hands grab his shoulders and yank him backwards. He stumbled awkwardly, eyes widening as his heart sped up even further, in surprise and fear.

The other made a shard movement than Harry felt in his back, and seconds later one of the large chains had crossed his front tightly and held him quite well, as the arm it was connected to wrapped around his neck subtly from behind.

"That... was not very smart of you," His dark reflection admonished him in a remarkably soft voice, "I had thought you wanted to live, at least a little longer?"

He only grit his teeth; He had nothing to say to the other, except for something that he had repeated many times already. Either way, the other didn't seem to appreciate his silence, or perhaps he was just naturally sadistic.

"This needs to be taken care of," It hummed softly, and Harry felt the strange sensation of something latching onto a foreign substance on him. That is, as he looked down, he could feel the other's hands on the candle stabbed into his thigh. As it was, it looked somewhat deep, and the first four stripes on said candle were buried completely. He tried to struggle away – that only seemed to make it's agitation worse, though he wasn't sure how, exactly, he knew it was agitated when he couldn't see it's face, and it's voice was fairly blank. With a sharp yank and a hiss from him, the candle was free, and blood began to flow in earnest, "There, now aren't you glad that's taken care of?"

"I would've taken care of it myself," He hissed through clenched teeth, "That wasn't 'helpful' anyway."

"How very ungrateful of you," It murmured, and he was almost glad he couldn't see it's face, "But I suppose, from what I've seen, that is neither a surprise, nor above my expectations of you."

"What do you know?!" Harry snapped, pulling perhaps a little weaker than usual, due to his rather sudden weak-kneed feeling, "Whatever Road says, you're not me, so whoever you are, you don't know me as much as you think you do!"

"But I know you so very well. Better than you know yourself even, but with your limited intelligence, that too, is not a surprise. If you can't be counted on to know your own self, how could you hope to know your friends? Or, at least, what you believe to be your friends."

Harry was shoved forward, and it was so unexpected, that he barely protected his face. His leg went up automatically in order to protect himself, but all he managed to do was slam his wound on the rock. He sat there and focused on his breathing for several long moments, hands shaking from the pain. He was vaguely aware that his mirror image was slowly moving around him in a predatory circle, leaving him to wonder how he was able to do that with the chains, which jingled and clinked together.

"Was it not beautiful, when you returned to find that they were both gone? It wasn't at all hard for them to decide to abandon you, and yet you wouldn't have ever done the same, isn't that right?" Feet swam into Harry's vision, and he forced himself to look up, "Poor, poor Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Such a title is wasted on you. You didn't earn it, you simply sat in that cradle while your parents died for you. And you never even wanted it! You don't want this responsibility, this job, this 'destiny' that none other than Dumbledore set up for you."

The other's face was twisted in what might have been a malicious glee, and it sickened him to see that expression on what was otherwise his face. He pushed himself up with his hands, but a solid foot landed on his back, and the force was so much stronger than just a foot, or a body. It felt like a huge mountain had been delivered and dropped right there, on his back and shoulders, and the thought seemed ironic that he thought he might've laughed.

"Admit it," It continued, "You'd love nothing more than to be 'normal', curled up at home or at that sickening school. Such a mission is too much for you – you weren't made for this kind of thing. You aren't a hero, Potter, and you never will be. So why do you keep struggling, when you didn't want this blessing, this curse, in the first place?"

And this time, he really did laugh. He wasn't sure if there was some kind of magic at work here, because with every second he could feel his strength waning. He'd been injured, but it was neither grievous nor life threatening. No matter what, he could not find a logical reason why moving even a finger felt like a huge chore. Every moment that passed seemed to only drive him further into this hole that he didn't think he could dig himself out of again.

"Yes, laugh at the futileness of your efforts," He was yanked back and flipped onto his back, and he was idly wondering about what this situation was that he had a near carbon copy of himself sitting on his stomach and near stark naked, "But I must ask anyway: What is so funny?"

"I am not a hero," He replied simply, and that was enough for him to know what he meant, but the other did not seem to share that.

"Indeed you're not, but why would this be a source of amusement for you?" It asked, seeming genuinely curious, "Or are you finally losing what little you had left in that thick skull of yours"

"It isn't something that just anyone could understand," Harry tried to shrug, failed, and settled with relaxing his facial expression so that he was almost mocking, "You have an awful lot of question for me, so I have one for you: If you're suppose to be me, and you did claim to know me better than I know myself, then why is it you don't know these things already? The more you talk, the more unimpressed I am."

He glanced around for Road, just to see her expression, but she seemed to have disappeared. It wasn't too surprising, but he wasn't reassured in the slightest that just because he could not see her, did not mean that she was not there. He looked again at the other here, who was looking decidedly frustrated, but then at once it's expression smoothed out into nothing but mild annoyance.

"Now now, Potter, bravado will get you nowhere. You have nobody to impress now, so why don't you come out of your shell? You're just a scared little boy who's had the world turned against him; Why don't you start acting like it?"

"Because I understand that I can't," He wondered if maybe this qualified as talking to oneself, but then he was fairly certain still that this was not as simple as one might think. "I have something I need to do, and the more I see, the more I understand that whether I'm the only one who can do it doesn't matter – It needs to be done, and so I'll do it, because it seems like no one else will."

"These are empty words though," The reflection was completely calm and poised, and it looked down at him coldly, it's cold fingers trailing lightly across his neck. "These are the things that you've been force fed, and you've added your own little flair to it, but the fact remains that you don't have a clue. The idea that a boys such as yourself can take down someone like Lord Voldemort is laughable – you have neither the experience, nor the skill to take him down."

Harry didn't respond, because in all honestly, he had nothing to say. His words were not empty, he knew this, but they weren't heartfelt either. He had no idea what he was suppose to do, where he was suppose to look, or who he was suppose to trust. Dumbledore had kept things from him, and even though it seemed more personal, it still seemed like a slight at him, some kind of betrayal. He still didn't even know what to think about his friends, although he missed them more than he could say. He didn't know much of anything, now that he thought about it, and he knew that this whole thing really was ridiculous. The more he thought about it, the more wild it really did seem.

"And what if you did?" It whispered softly, "Would you kill him? Would you kill another person? Could you, Potter?"

"He was a person," He murmured back, "But Voldemort isn't anymore. It that's what it came down to... then I would do whatever I had to."

He could say this confidentially, because he meant every word, but he was feeling just a little shaken. What was he fighting for? It was easy to say his friends, or anyone else, but his drive... was sorely lacking recently. What exactly had he been doing anyway? He'd been taking his time, sitting around and hoping for the best. It was as if he hadn't even meant to do anything these last few weeks.

"Lies," It hissed, sounding so much like the ruin that had looked like Hermione, that he flinched reflexively, but it still felt as if there were a mountain resting on him. "You are too weak to do what needs to be done!"

He thought it might've been his confidence that made his reflection so angry, because he couldn't really think of anything else it might've been. He was lifted and thrown, and he hit the pedestal that looked exactly like the one that had held the locket, and later, the fake locket. The impact was painful, and his back protested against the abuse as it slid down to rest on the floor. However, without the other sitting or standing right next to him, he felt as if he could move a little more freely, and he moved to a kneeling position before he stood warily, one hand sliding back up the pedestal to help him balance. As he made it to his feet, his fingers wrapped around the edge of the smooth stone, and he glanced in a feint fear that he might see the poison again, and he found that instead it was filled in blood. It was almost over flowing, and it lapped against his finger tips, leaving a faint red stain.

He could only stare for a moment. The blood was a rich, vibrant red, and it almost seemed sentient, somehow. It moved, as if disturbed, and yet there was nothing but his fingers to disturb it. As he stared, he felt like he would fall in, almost like it was a pensieve trying to pull him in. It felt thick, like syrup, and it was somehow less disgusting than he thought it should be.

"So fascinated, Potter, even though you're a 'warrior of the Light'?" He didn't even jump as it appeared there before him, it's voice almost right there in his ear.

"What is it?" He felt that it couldn't really be blood, not really, as it was too... strange, too vibrant.

"It is exactly what it looks like," It replied in near amusement, "This is the Blood of the Sacrifice."

Blood of the Sacrifice? Then who's blood, he wondered. Was it Dumbledore's? Obviousness pointed out that it would perhaps be his mothers blood, or maybe his fathers. His parents had given up their lives to protect him, and it was indeed a sacrifice. It would make sense, seeing as it was his mothers sacrifice that kept him safe, after all.

"Do you know whose?" It asked softly, as if talking it a child. Almost as if in a trance, he replied,

"My mothers."

"You would think so, wouldn't you? It is the most obvious answer. Of course, this is probably metamorphical, but it is here, now, with you and me, and that makes it real at this moment, don't you think so?"

"I don't care," Harry decided, forcing himself to look away and finding the other was a very narrow space away, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm here... and I shouldn't be. I want... I need to go, so just tell me what you want to say, or do what you wanted to do, so that I can go."

It sounded obnoxious to himself, but he wasn't about to take it back. He was frightened, but he did not have infinite time. In fact, his time was probably limited even more than he realized, and so he started to move away from the bowl, but found a hand pressed against his chest. It pushed him back until he was pressed painfully against the bowl again, and then the other hand wrapped loosely around his neck.

"What I want? You will never truly understand what I want, but at the moment I want you to die. It is very simple, I think, and it was good of you to finally get to the point. Now, I want you to give up, and hand this body over to me."

It didn't seem like it intended to give him the chance to respond, as the grip around his throat began to tighten until he truly couldn't breath. He reached up to grab at it, but the grip was harder than steel, or any metal out there that he knew of. It felt immovable, as if no mortal could hope to save themselves. He struggled for breath, wondering if perhaps he had been a little too foolish.

Red eyes stared into his own green ones, and they shone with malicious hate. It was suffocating all on it's own, and he began to panic. It started to hurt, and his eyes felt tight. Soon, darkness seemed to move on the edge of his vision, and he realized with a start that he was dying.

It was his job, his duty, to do this mission that nobody should have to undertake, let alone someone of his age. He didn't want it, this he knew and understood, but it was too late. He had it already, after all, and getting rid of it meant something far worse than a bad grade or a failed class. It meant death and destruction, chaos and fear. It meant he would die, and that he wouldn't be the only one. He did not want to die. He did not want his friends to die. He did not want his friends family, or their pets, or their friends, to die. He didn't want any of it. He just wanted Voldemort to come to an end. But 'Sacrifices' had to be made, and it seemed he was one of them.

He was filled with more than a sense of peace. It was as if he had been steadily losing his will to live since he'd got here, and suddenly gained it all back and more. He was filled with this overwhelming wish to live, to survive, that he was filled with a huge strength he hadn't felt in what felt like such a long time. He pushed at his reflection, who was startled enough that he was able to get a big breath of air. He swallowed it like it was food and he hadn't eaten for weeks. It gave him enough clarity that he was able to pull up his foot and press it as hard as he could into the other's chest, and as he did so, he reached blindly around, until he felt his hand slide into something wet and warm.

He knew what it was, and he snarled as the hand clamped around his throat again quite hard. His hard was submerged completely, and he hoped against reasonable hope that there was something there, something that was hidden and able to help him.

And then the water around them erupted. The sight of his dead, disfigured friends sent another jolt of fear thought him, and he was suddenly terrified that somehow, they knew what he was doing and was coming for him. However, his reflection seemed just as unsettled as he, disgusted as well, and he gathered all his strength and pushed.

It wasn't enough, that much was obvious, and no matter how badly he wanted to be away from those things, they continued to dray themselves forward, toward him. His fingers searched desperately, and he felt something brush against them, like a breath of warm air in a cold atmosphere. He struggled to grab it, whatever it was, but it eluded him resolutely.

Hermione and Ron reached them first, but to his shock, they reached not for Harry himself, but for his reflection, who tried beating them away violently. Ginny appeared, having snuck up on them, and took a hold of the reflections shoulders and began to tug angrily.

Harry had no idea what was happening, but he felt that whatever it was, it was only in his favor for now. Those things weren't necessarily trying to help him, at least they wouldn't be the moment they could wrench him away. He began pulling away as well, and it hurt when fingernails cut into his skin, drawing a thin but stead stream of blood.

The moment he felt himself free, he spun and lunged to to bowl of Blood, submerging his hand even further, wondering just how deep it was. It was definitely deeper than the original, at least.

His fingers wrapped around something long and thin, and he felt it pulse in his hand. The blood rippled softly, and he he a loud shriek behind him that rose the hairs on the back of his neck. It was a long, drawn out, horrible scream of pain and more than anything, anger. He could _feel_ something happening; Without much of a though, he spun again, taking with him whatever was in his hand and holding it out before him as if it was able to protect him from anything.

His reflection was furious, his eyes had dilated until it was hard to see them at all. He was bleeding heavily, from his eyes, nose, and ears, as the others clawed at anything they could reach. The moment the reflection saw what Harry held out before himself, he screamed angrily again, drawing his arms back and throwing it forward with a familiar cry,

"_Avada Kadavra_!"

Harry didn't think it would work, since it didn't seem as if magic was usable here, but from the reflection's fingertips emerged a bright green light that caused his friend's images to scramble for the water again with cries of pain. It lit the whole area with the sickening light, washing out the flickering fire-light with bright green instead. He almost felt like panicking – he held only a stick that wasn't a wand, just a thin, crooked branch. He gathered his strength anyway, and he felt himself gathering more and more. His knees stopped shaking, and his arm was straight as a rod as he felt himself prepared to fire a spell.

The burst of light from his stick half back-fired on him, and as the bright light washed over him, the stick slowly changed to a long thin wand that looked minutely different from the one he'd always owned. It was lighter in color and weight, and the handle was a little different as well. He couldn't tell the reason for this, but he ignored it.

The power washed over him as his own red lighted spell rushed to meet his reflections head on. There was a small explosion from it, but both beams continued to push against each other, warring for control. He grit his teeth as he struggled to keep it up and overcome the other; Wind was rushing around him, his hair flipping around and whipping his cheeks. His glasses were pressed against his face and the ridges were a little painful, while the water around the island was pushed back in waves, revealing the bottoms of the lake by several feet. The blood on his hand grew scalding hot.

"_Give up_!!" It yelled at him over the roar of the fighting spells.

Harry didn't answer, pressing his whole body forward, his scar aching and his body tired. Another wave hit, and the island shook under his feet.

"_Give it up, boy_!"

"No!" He screamed, his scar searing and the blood even hotter. He thought his skin might be blistering by now, and he took a step forward, only for another wave to hit him and forcer him a step back. He did not want to give up – even if he'd had a choice in the first place. He had a lot to go home to, even if he couldn't do it now, or even when he woke up. He had to talk to Ginny, he needed to thank Mr and Mrs. Weasly. Lupin was all he had left of the Marauders. He had so many people counting on him that he didn't even want to think about what would happen if he let them down.

But he knew.

So, losing to this reflection, if that was indeed what it was, was not an option. He could not, _would_ not lose. More than anything, he refused to lose inside his own mind, body, or heart. He couldn't. Wouldn't. Refused, denied. He repeated this to himself over and over as he took another step forward that felt just a little closer to where he wanted to go.

He saw the other's eyes widen as it was forced to step back; as it looked back at the lake, there seemed to be a small flash of fear, amplified by the light of the spells. Harry's own eyes narrowed as he felt his reserves draining.

Then the reflection shifted, probably not on purpose, and it disrupted the spells. They exploded painfully, and he felt himself flying back. The wind whistled through his ears, and he shut his eyes to prepare being thrown into rock. Surprisingly, he flew much farther than he'd though, and then seconds later, he hit water.

He rose, sputtering, struggling against the hands suddenly latched on his ankles. The water was surprisingly warm, and as he glanced, he found that in the return of the fire-light, it had a small red tint to it, as if like blood. The hands grabbed his calves, and his legs kicked violently.

"You will never win," He looked up quickly to find an angry reflection glaring at him and standing at the edge of the isle, "You just don't have want it takes. You're a coward, you know, so very afraid of the images of your friends that you made yourself."

Harry stilled at that, and was almost dragged under. He managed to save himself, but he was barely a head over the water. There was something wrong with what the other had said, but he couldn't decide on what that was.

"Give up. It'll be so much easier that way. You tried your best, isn't that enough?"

Harry's mind raced, and he looked around frantically. That wand that had been in his hand was now gone, blown from his grip, and he'd probably never find it again. He looked up to find the other holding it's hand up again, it's skin almost glowing faintly, the red eyes cold and glowing faintly.

"I haven't done anything yet, and I haven't done my best either," He replied softly, aware that what he was saying was true. He felt a sense of calm washed over him even through the thrashing. He slowly looked up at his reflection one last time, and his determination rose to heights he'd never quite felt before.

"I'm not going to give up."

And as the green light flashed, he stopped struggling, letting himself be dragged down under. He saw the spell hit the surface of the water and rebound off into the cavern. He could see red hair floating around him like that of a mermaids, although he knew that what it was attached to was anything but pretty at the moment. He stared up at the surface as it was dragged away further and further, and found that it too, had a red tint. He realized then that that was because it _was_ blood.

He shut his eyes, feeling more hands cover him, and whispers in his ears. He couldn't understand anything they were saying at all, but it had an almost soothing tone to it. He felt his breath running out further and further, until his lungs hurt and he thought his eyes would burst.

And then he was rising. Higher and higher, until a huge burst of cool air hit his face.

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A/N: :/ Arg. I had this one epic conversation planned for Harry and the reflection dude, but then after the electricity thing, and not being able to work on it for so long, I forgot what it was. I had to start over, and I have to say that this chapter annoys me D; Anyways, yeah.

Reviewwwwwwwww.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Guess what? Month and a half later, the electric thing is fixed, and I'm back. I think. I'm really sorry about that hiatus, but I think that was either an extremely good thing, or a really bad one. I'm not too sure which it is yet. I noticed that that last chapter was a really good place to go on hiatus or something. This way I don't have to remember my previous train of thought. Too much. Anyways, let's see if my writing has changed at all as well XD

Oh, and I just watch 'Broken Paths', which stars Johnny Yong Bosch, and Daniel Southworth has a big part too. I didn't think it'd be too great, but I was surprised – like, blown away. The fight scenes (and there were a lot of those) were absolutely amazing, there was just enough plot, the acting was superb. If you haven't seen it, check it out!

__--*--__

Harry expected to be disoriented the moment he opened his eyes – it seemed to be the reasonable thing to happen. Instead, he saw and understood that he was staring up at a plaster ceiling. There was a large crack running just to the side, small spider-cracks running off in many different directions. He took this in, feeling as if he had been awake all along, his mind even more awake that his body, running a mile a minute. He had a sense of clarity the likes of which he could only remember ever having in his most dire of times. He registered a cool wind blowing against the side of his face and sat up.

The first thing he did was check his thigh to see if that wound was still there. His pants were unmarred, and slight pressure revealed smooth skin and no pain. He almost felt invigorated. Then he turned his head toward the wind.

The wall of the room he was in was demolished, smashed to bits.

There were support beams sticking out of the sides of what remained; maybe a foot on each side, and nothing on the top or bottom. Drywall, wood, and glass littered the ground, and a fine layer of gray dust settled on top of it, no doubt from the ruined drywall. On the left of the hole was Link, maybe ten feet away from Harry himself, knelling down and taking cover behind the small remains of the wall. Beyond that, he could see a glass littered street, and a hole in the roof of the building opposite them. In the sky, level one Akuma floated about, smaller black forms flitting back and forth among them, followed by explosions and bullets.

The dust made his eyes start to water and he coughed, covering his mouth with one hand and supporting himself as he stood with the other. Link turned at the noise, and narrowed eyes lifted in relief, clouded by suspicion.

"Potter?" He asked cautiously, shifting so he was sharing equal attention between Harry and the outside.

"Yeah," He murmured, eyes darting about, taking in the broken picture frames, the couch shoved against the wall, the grand fireplace with floo powder attached, though spilled and twisted, "Where, exactly, are we now?"

"In one of the homes in this little town, not too far from the graveyard," Apparently satisfied, Link turned back away, but Harry didn't miss the shifty eyes, "Walker and the others are trying to take care of the akuma as fast as they can, but it seems the Earl is attempting to cause as much destruction as possible."

"What about the townspeople?" Harry questioned worriedly, remembering at the last moment to keep his voice down and he knelt behind Link slowly, "Where are they?"

"I can't say for certain," The other ducked his head around the corner and apparently found nothing threatening, "However, I've seen them evacuating as fast as they possibly can, using several different methods from what I've noticed. They've evacuated the..."

Link paused and glanced at him,

"What do you're kind call those without knowledge of magic?"

"Muggles," he replied instantly, ignoring the other's phrasing, "So they've taken care of the muggles too then? That's good, then we don't have to worry too much..."

"I had thought so," The other agreed, "But then several wizards began popping in – and I do mean that in the most literal sense – and they've made quite the nuisance of themselves. Not even Kanda's more vulgar threats were apparently convincing enough for them to leave."

"Aurors?" He spoke aloud, more to himself than to Link, "Bloody hell... They don't stand a chance at all!"

"They are getting in the way more than anything, and even though they have begun realizing that they cannot win, they are attempting to take down the others out of distrust, or some misguided attempt to help."

Mind racing, Harry glanced toward the sky again, and after a moment, a stray red light shot through the chaos and he watched it glance off an akuma's hide, forcing one of the exorcist – he couldn't tell which one from this distance – to dodge and miss their own strike. The light alerted the akuma, and bullets rained down on the general area it'd come from. He heard distant shouts, and he barely staved off the urge to track them down.

"Don't even think about it," He turned his head in surprise, but Link wasn't even looking at him, "One mistake, and from what I hear, you're liable to make a lot of them, and you're toast. Don't risk it. They are too stubborn to leave, even though they have such an easy way out. Besides, you being seen is perhaps not such a great idea at all."

"It doesn't matter if it is a great idea or not," He argued instantly, moving on the tips of his toes to be beside the other, "If I don't at least try, then what was the point of fighting back anyway?"

"There are many different kinds of fighting, Potter, and yours is from the shadows."

He did hesitate, merely because he was trying to think, for once, of what the repercussions of being seen might be. He heard a scream, then decided that he didn't care.

He jumped forward from his toes, giving him an extra boost, and knowing what to expect, dodged away from Links strong hands. He kept his head down low and his hands by his side. His cloak was underneath his jacket, and he reached for his zipper, lowering it only a little.

The streets were a mess, and he didn't know the area at all. Thankfully the sounds of frantic arguing was growing louder by the second, and after a few shortcuts and turns, he was sure that they were just on the street ahead; or at least, he hoped that was the case.

He could hear Links footsteps behind him, and he noticed with pride that he kept his own running just as quite as the others. He was not overtaken, even though surely it wouldn't be that hard, and he wondered whether the other was as strict to rules and common sense as he'd thought. Up ahead, the voices were suddenly silent, and he worried at the ominous weight of the air, never mind what was residing up above him.

He reached the end of the street and saw them. Or, he saw some of them, for most were obscured from his view by a familiar round shape. He heard the click as multiple barrels snapped into place, aiming for the people before it. He was running before he even realized that he'd stopped.

He reached the akuma but did not slow, instead pushing himself forward and stopped his feet. He felt himself falling, and twisted, his hand flying back to instinctively catch himself, and he slid forward, right under the small space left. A stray piece of glass caught his palm, but he hardly noticed, reaching with his free hand toward his other sleeve just as he moved his wrist the right way. His wand snapped out of the holster, and just as he was clear of the thing above him, dug his heels into the ground, passing the wand from one hand to the other as momentum carried him upwards. Just before his feet left the ground, he used his toes on one foot to turn himself around, throwing his hand in just the right position and feeling the magic build in his chest, and shouted just as there was a burst of light and sound,

"_Protego_!!!"

Light flared bright, and he felt himself lose touch of everything but his wand, as if the gravity was suddenly turned off. The light was so bright that he could see nothing for a few minutes, but a bright white, and he saw it so vividly that he couldn't tell if his eyes were closed or open. Then sound followed, a great explosion that hurt his heart and shook the ground. His ears rung, and then he felt his back hit something very much solid, stealing the breath from him, and he could hear nothing but the explosion that rocked the world around him.

He was still alive when the light gave away and the noise subsided, and he could feel no fatal virus tracking itself across his body. Eyes shut from the pain of the light against his retinas, he took his wand and shoved his hand in the air. He felt more than saw, for he couldn't see anything at the moment but the bright white light behind his eyelids, his spell go off. He knew that it meant there was a thin golden missile shooting into the sky, making no noise but eventually splitting apart in several different directions, still no sound, in hopes that wherever they were, one of the exorcists would notice, even if they hadn't seen the first part shooting into the sky. This, he developed during training with the sole purpose of calling for help, under certain circumstances. It had been Komui's idea, and he'd been rather insistent about it.

It felt only like a couple seconds passed. Perhaps he'd gotten lucky and someone just happened to be nearby, he couldn't tell. But as he felt his senses returning to him, he heard a faintly amused voice say,

"That was not your most graceful rescue, I don't think, but everyone has to start somewhere," He cracked one eye open, ignoring the slight burning, and saw Lavi throw a grin over his shoulder, "Right?"

"Well," He rubbed his eyes and scowled, lowering his wand arm, "I don't think I've ever been seriously called graceful anyway."

He heard the new explosion and felt the heat on his face from it. He payed it no mind, instead prying his eyes open and thankfully they weren't so rebellious this time. For a moment everything was rather blurry, but his sight cleared up quickly and he eyed Lavi's back as the exorcist looked around cautiously, waiting to see if the noise had attracted any attention. When nothing appeared immediately, the other turned around.

Harry frowned, finding himself against a wall that had been weak enough to start collapsing when he'd hit it. It hadn't fallen all the way, but his legs and back had created a rather impressive mold out of it. He fixed his glasses and wondered,

"This is going to collapse before I even pull off, isn't it?"

"Looks that way," Lavi grinned, holding the hammer over his shoulder, observing the shaky wall, "I could think of a dozen things to say, but you're making it too easy."

"Thanks," Harry rolled his eyes, his voice coming out very much sarcastic, "You know how to make my day."

"If it's that easy, you're wife will have an easy job ahead of her."

He thought briefly of Ginny, in a wedding dress, watching him with joy and happiness. He wondered if a wizarding ceremony even used dresses. He figured not – maybe some kind of frilly robes instead.

Then a hand was thrust in his face, and the thought flew out the proverbial window, replaced by his still quick moving mind and adrenaline. He didn't think on it, grabbing the wist behind the hand and allowing himself to be tugged out of the Harry-shaped hole. He felt it give away the moment that he was moved, and by the time he was safely on his feet, he could hear the wall collapse and the dust tickle his nose.

"I gotta get going, do you think you've got-"

"Hey!! _Bastion_! What's wrong with you?! Come on, bloody _hell_, what _is_ that?!"

'That' turned out to be a by-now familiar star pattern spreading across the face of a handsome young man's face and body. He was propped up against the building next to the one Harry stood before, just a couple feet away. He was surrounded by a few aurors who appeared helpless and horrified. One was preforming what Harry assumed was a medical diagnostics spell, but seemed to be growing increasingly panicked.

"It's alright," He murmured at the exorcists hesitation, "I've got this, you need to help the others."

Lavi jumped without a second thought, landing on a more stable roof, though it did creak alarmingly, and waved,

"Good luck, and Link, make sure he doesn't do anything too rash!"

Startled, Harry glanced over and noticed Link scowling at him. He'd forgotten the other was even following him in the first place. He ignored it within a second, making his way toward the distraught group. There were a couple who were sensible and keeping watch, focused on their task, but mostly everyone seemed to be just way out of their depth.

He was met with stares of disbelief, distrust, and amazement. He ignored them; this was something he was good at doing, with years of practice. He spoke, and he tried to do so gently,

"You all must leave, you'll only continue getting hurt if you stay."

He moved carefully around them, knelling by the deceased man, and he felt a curious calm descend over him, along with a hyper alertness. He looked at the man, who in turn watched him, reaching out in desperation. Harry let him, wrapping his own arms around the other's shoulders, and he murmured for the other to relax.

"What's wrong with him, can you help him?!" A fearful young man asked, appearing to be nothing more than a rookie. Feeling sorry for him, and for the man in his arms, and for everyone here tonight, including the akuma, Harry ignored them, watching as the black stars spread and expanded until finally he turned to dust and collapsed under it's own weight.

For a moment, only silence. Then,

"What.... What was that?! Where, what, how...?"

"Those creatures are called akuma," Harry spoke still as gently as he could, gently shaking the dust off of him, ignoring the fact that a man had just died in his arms to lament over later, "Their bullets carry a poison, and if you are hit by one, you will die. There is no cure, nothing."

"Nothing?" The rookie asked, pleaded, "Nothing you could have done at all? He... was such a nice man though! He.... he's from Germany, but he's an American auror, visiting under a request... he's got family at home, his third kid's about to be born! How....?"

The other aurors had all lost someone at some point. The less jaded ones helped the rookie out, but the others stood with stiff jaws and sad eyes, accepting that the first thing they needed to do was gather the only information before them.

"You know what these are, kid?" A tall, burly one asked impatiently, "How do you kill them?"

"You can't," He replied in a similar tone.

"You're friends aren't having such a tough time," The man argued angrily, glancing at the fight and then mumbling under his breath, "Freaks."

Harry heard this, and it angered him far more than he'd expected. Gritting his teeth, he snapped,

"I said _you_ can't, there is a difference. They can for a special reason that I'm not going into right now because we'd be here too long," He glanced and saw Link hiding in a shadow, watching them closely, "And know this:

"Nothing you can do will kill them. None of you, and no other auror either. The only spells that work are the protective kind. I ask that you protect yourselves and the other's who can't, but otherwise, please stay out of the way."

"W-who do you think you are?!"

"Wait... wait, I know that face..." All attention went to a slightly shaky man who looked a bit worse for wear. "You! You're that.... that Harry Potter bloke, right?!"

He'd been expecting it when all the faces turned back to him with suddenly radically different opinions. He'd be lying if he said it didn't annoy him, but he'd long learned to get over it. It was, after all, as normal for him as it is for a muggle to get up and go to work in the morning.

"Gor blimey!" The man exclaimed, tears in the corners of his eyes as he flung himself at Harry, "Nobody knew... there were so many rumors that you were dead that people... people started to give up hope! With all these strange creatures an-and You-Know-Who..."

Feeling decidedly awkward, he patted the other's shoulder and was at a lose for words. The man pulled back and gave him a small, watery, hopeful smile.

"But.... But you're not giving up, right? You're still trying to bring Him down, arn'cha?"

"Why else would I be here?" He asked gently, "Just because you don't see me... it doesn't mean that I'm not around."

There was a small flash of light, and he was so startled that his hand shot out, ruining the lens of an expensive looking camera. He blinked, and then grinned sheepishly,

"Whoops?"

"What're you still doing here, half-pint?!" The burly one rose a hand threateningly. Harry found himself looking at a rather small man with crooked and cracked glasses. He was almost pitiful looking, if one didn't see the spark of absolute glee and excitement in his face. Rather more politely, another auror frowned disapprovingly,

"We did ask you to leave, didn't we, Safarri? This is no place for a novice reporter like you."

"But don't you see?! This is the perfect place to be! Think of it – I, the only one with any coverage of this incident! And Harry Potter himself!" He looked Harry in the eye squarely, his excitement growing as he fix his camera without looking. "The names Simm Safarri, my lad, and you can call me Simm, if you like. Now – what's really going on recently?"

Harry scowled, particularly when there was an explosion not two streets away. It was Link who saved him by mentioned that it would be a _really _good time to hide. Everyone agreed unanimously, and they stalked down the street in a tight formation that Harry was surprised to learn that he'd already known. They found an old post office that was mostly intact, and they quickly moved inside, the aurors taking over to put up defensive wards.

"It'd be best if you left," Harry tried again, trying to sound convincing with a hint of authority, "There's really nothing you can do here."

"I would have expected that the magical enforcers would have discovered that fact themselves, and much sooner," Link spoke not with disdain, but as if he were stating a fact, "After all, you were rather protective of it, Potter."

"Not of the ministry," Harry argued with a deep frown, "Definitely not of the ministry."

"And who are you anyway?!" The burly one exploded, "I'm about to the end o' me rope here! I don't care if you are the famous Boy-Who-Lived, you better start hashing out some answers right now!"

The other aurors looked rather horrified, hissing strangled reprimands at the other, whose name was apparently Boda Kadsadra. Harry had to admit – Boda really did appear to be at his wits end. He frowned and glanced at Link, who happened to be looking away, though he did pause to send the younger wizard a warning look.

"His name.... is unimportant," He started out slowly, "But he's on our... well no, he's with the Order's side."

"The Order of the Phoenix?!" Simm exclaimed, his eyes just about bulging out of his head.

"No," Harry shook his head, then paused to gather his thoughts on what was appropriate to say, keeping in mind that Voldemort was now working the ministries from the shadows. "No, not that one. You don't need to know about that either, and I'm afraid I can't say anything about it other than the fact that it's dedicated to destroying those creatures out there; Akuma."

"You mentioned them before; What are they?"

"The basics are that they used to be living people, but due to the... leader, has been using them to create havoc, and oppose the Order. The leader is a bit like Voldemort-" Here the aurors flinched, "-And from what I've gathered, the two have a loose partnership. Akuma can only been killed by a very special substance that doesn't work for just anybody, that choose it's owner much like a wand. You cannot beat it. Don't try. Just protect what you can. And if you come across someone with gray skin, gold eyes, and seven crosses on their forehead, run. There are more than one, and they can appear normal with ease, but if you see someone like that, don't even try to fight them."

"What are they?" Boda clinched his wand tightly, and harry wondered if the wand had, by now, gained finger imprints from what he assumed was a habit.

"I...." Harry looked at Link, who was watching him but not saying anything other than having a warning expression still, "I can't say. What does it matter? Just know to avoid them. I've already said a bit more than I should have."

"But you're leaving out a lot of things, right?" Simms asked.

Harry didn't answer, instead listening to the noise outside for a moment and changing the subject,

"I don't know how widely it's known, but Voldemort is behind the Minister, directing his every move. So be careful what you say and do – It'll get you in more than just 'trouble'."

"We should go," The polite one spoke, "They've probably left us for dead, since there hasn't been any reinforcements. We need to return and tell people, somehow, this information."

"If there were any reinforcements to send," One that had not previously spoken mumbled morbidly.

"Don't be foolish," Boda snapped, "Of course there are. The bastards are tryin' to play God or something, and it don't sit well wit' me!"

"Don't get into trouble," Harry warned, "I've got to get going, I want to see if maybe there's anymore survivors hiding around here."

"Right back at cha'," The other hulk replied before hesitatingly holding out a hand, "... And thanks. For the heroics, I gues'. Just don't die."

Harry took the giant hand and smiled warmly, "I'm afraid that it's the trouble that finds me, but I'll do my best to follow your advice."

"Is there any messages you want us to give?" The polite one asked. He hesitated and then shook his head,

"No. It's too risky. But I really appreciate the offer. I didn't catch your name – what is it?"

"I'm honored you're curious," The other grinned and held out a hand.

"I'm not a God or anything, I just got lucky."

"I'm not so sure about that, now that I see you now," They shook hands, "And I'm Vila. Vila Dedstromm. But you're welcome to call me whatever you like. And I'm afraid I owe you thanks as well, Harry."

"No problem, and thanks Vila," Harry stepped back, "It was nice meeting you all. Maybe I'll see you again when this is all over."

"You're pretty confident. What if it's not?" Boda crossed his large arms.

"Well... I'm not going to give up, so as long as I'm alive... there's always some kind of hope, even if it's a small one."

"How self-confident and pompous," Boda grinned for the first time before clapping his hand on Harry's head, "But it's not too bad yet. Make sure to keep it under control though. Wouldn't want to end up like some people."

"No kidding," Harry agreed. He turned and at the doorway, waved over his shoulder. Then he was outside, and the air was blistering. He could see a fire in the distance, and he felt a particular saddness for all those who had lost their homes today. He didn't really know how far magic could repair something to the way it used to be; Would they be able to bring this town back from the disaster it's become? It looked like a war zone. It _is _a war zone.

Link was right behind him as they emerged, and he spoke softly,

"Your people hold you in high regard."

"You don't have any idea," Harry replied with a small roll of his eyes. Though he was glad that if anything, his name could give people Hope in these times, where it was nearly nonexistent anymore. Link made a small sound of possible-agreement and of acknowledgment. He began to hurry through the streets, looking for a suitable building that he could climb. Most were partially torn down or didn't appear stable enough for him to trust. His companion didn't say anything, as he appeared to be lost in thought. All the better for Harry, whose own mind threatened to drag him under, into a thought-trance.

He found a building finally – it was the old resident bank, very old, and built back when muggles encourage earthquaked resistant buildings. He wasn't sure when he'd crossed over into the muggle area, but the bank was definitely such. It was easy to find the step ladder, and up he went. Link stayed at the bottom in order to be mostly a lookout, though Harry wasn't sure what the other was looking out for. He climbed to the top and quickly made the most suitable cover to hide under as he could. Then he began his own technique.

It wasn't much, and in the beginning he'd nearly had it with all the passive things he was learning – 'So you can protect yourself', 'So you can protect others', 'So you can be of use' (Though nobody said it so bluntly, he was aware of the silent connotations of what they sometimes said), 'So you know something, since you can't exactly defeat an akuma.'

It was... simple in theory, but not so simple in practice. Just shoot off one-sided shields and protect the exorcists as much as possible. But that took split second decisions and the ability to be observant over what might be a large area. And on top of that, the exorcists were so fast; It'd taken him a long time to be able to keep up with his eyes and wand. And he still missed a fair bit of opportunities.

Everyone insisted that it was an important job. What if someone missed something and was about to be stabbed or shot at, but Harry noticed in time? Rather, when he heard that, his mind was more asking 'what if I don't?'"

It must have been that strange concentration, adrenaline, and clear mind that he'd woken up with that allowed him to move so quickly. He fired off the limited shield charms he knew of, bouncing off bullet after bullet, and he once witnessed Lavi's thumbs up, followed by Allen's kind and rather proud smile.

He wondered why that was so exhilarating.

It honestly looked like fireworks in the sky, and he wondered if maybe some far off town could see them. This was certainly no fair or festival though.

He didn't really here anything other than the beating of his heart; He saw nothing but what was in the sky. He felt a chill go down his spin and for some reason, saw something flash out of the bottoms of his eyes, accompanied by a strong desire to look. So he did, against his better judgment.

And saw a human arm poking out from his chest, elbow down.

He felt no pain. He didn't feel llike it was there at all, but there it was before his eyes. He wasn't bleeding, he noticed faintly. His clothes were untouched. But then warmth brushed his back and breath caressed his ear.

"You're making a bit too much fuss for my taste, boy. Leave, and I'll let you live."

He felt sweat slide down his neck, cold against his heated skin. He didn't not answer, although he wasn't exactly sure whether it was because of his fear or just a reluctance to answer.

"No? That's too bad. I thought you were kind of interesting, you know? But oh well. Goodbye then."

And he watched as the hand twisted and began to pulled back violently, going in slow motion.

__--*--__

A/N: I'm sick as a dog. I horrible. I think I might have something serious, because this has been going on for over a week now, on and off, and I'm really miserable.

But I hope you guys aren't XD A little late in coming, but here it is!

I hope people are still interested? Review?


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: I forgot to mention last chapter, that Boda, Vila, and Simm's names all came from a random generator thing, because there's noway I can think up creative 'magical' names from the top of my head.

Also, thanks to everyone who said they hoped I got better. I am feeling much better, though apparently I was told I had a combination of Influenza and severe upper respiratory infection.

__--*--__

Harry was experiencing some kind of fast thinking and epiphany that Hermione would have envied. For, all at once, he realized that one, the only one who had any kind of 'power' like what he had glimpsed would have been either an exorcist, which wouldn't attack him in the first place even if another had been around that he wasn't aware of, or a Noah. The second was that something must've happened to Link, without him even noticing or hearing anything suspicious.

The third was that he was going to die.

Well, that was pretty counterproductive. The moment that thought went through his head, his whole being was thrown into overdrive. He did briefly wonder what would've happened if he'd found himself in this situation if he hadn't had any kind of 'training' at all.

Meanwhile, the Noah behind him was treated to the spectacular view of his victim disappearing from thin air.

"My my," He whistled in amusement, "I guess I was right when I called you interesting. Those are some quick reflexes, boy."

Harry took a deep breath from his place a few feet ahead of where he'd been standing. He decided to chalk it up to his sometimes-amazing luck and a miracle that he was still alive. He did do a quick check though, just to make sure he didn't have a gaping hole in his chest that he wasn't aware of. Luckily, there was none that he could find, nor any sudden pain in his chest.

He wasn't up to picking a fight with someone who could probably kick him around without trying. He tried to moved circular around the man whom he finally got a good look at; the other wore a fancy muggle tux, and had the customary dark skin, gold eyes, and he could glimpse the threatening black crosses between wavy black hair. The man was good looking, and he didn't seem to be American – or British, for that matter. He recognized the man as the one from before, and from the train station.

"Come on now, I don't want to stand here all day," The other tapped his thigh in bordum, "Why don't you show me what you can do? I promise I won't hurt you. Too much."

"Yeah," Harry snapped, "That's great incentive. Who are you anyway?"

He was being totally sarcastic, of course, but he found that his effort was wasted. Was, in fact, the wrong thing to do. Gold eyes found his exact position instantly, and he barely stopped himself from flinching, even though he knew that nobody would see anyway.

"The name's Tyki Mikk," The Noah smiled disarmingly, "How do you feel about poker?"

Harry found to his annoyance, a flicker of amusement at the question. Instead of answering, he inched toward the edge of the building, trying to step lightly and without sound. To his horror, he found that Tyki's eyes were never fooled. They followed him constantly, as if he were in plain sight.

"Are you giving me the silent treatment?" Tyki seemed doubly amused by this, "Come now, I'm just trying to make small talk."

Harry rolled his eyes and inched a little faster. He'd almost made it behind the Noah before him when the other moved, his arm flying out to grasp at whatever there was to grab. He froze at the motion, and let out a breath when it went once more through him.

"It seems that our abilities are very much similar," Tyki mused, "I keep aiming at your heart, but I guess that I can't do that when your Innocence is making that impossible. But I'd advise you not to be so quick to flee."

The wizard was no stranger to threats, and despite the light tone it was spoken in, he recognized it for what it was.

"Or what?" Even the Noah seemed a little startled by their proximity, and he took only a small feeling of victory.

"Well, I had a bit of news for you. I didn't plan on sharing, but well. You survived Road, so I'm rather inclined to believe that deserves it's own reward. And you managed to slip away from me!" The other smiled again, shrugging, "Granted, I was told I'm not suppose to kill you because your Dark Lord wants to get a hold of you, but if I slip... oops?"

He needed to stall anyway. He tried to think – what was it he was suppose to remember in situations like these? Position, he thought, but found there was little to take advantage of. There was no wall to keep his back to, and even then, would that even be helpful, given Tyki's ability? Exits? All around him, as the ladder wasn't necessary if he really wanted to get away. He needed to keep an eye on the ground, shaky as it was. Wouldn't want to fall through in the middle of it all, now would he?

"What makes you think you can get a hand on me anyway?" He asked, tense and ready to react, "If you can't touch me."

"There are many other ways, trust me," The other's smile never wavered, "I never need to touch you to defeat or capture you."

"So what news do you have then?" He questioned, knowing he'd get nothing from the previous line. He frowned as he backed away a bit.

Did he want to try to flee the streets? The answer was no. He didn't know the layout, and with the other's apparent ability to track him and walk through walls, it would do more harm than anything. He needed to stay within eyesight of the exorcists. Honestly, he'd rather face off against a level one again than go against this Noah.

"Well, I happened to run across a certain friend of yours. Or at least she claimed to be a friend of yours," Tyki explained nonchalantly, and Harry froze, breath stopping, "She was quite frightened of me. I normally would've been a bit offended since we'd never met before, but then she became adamant about me telling her where you were."

Tightening his hands into fists, he grit his teeth. He let himself become visible and tangible again, much to the other's interest.

"What did you do to her?"

"I never said I did anything. She asked a question after all, and I was obliged to answer, don't you think?"

"You never struck me as the honest or helpful sort," He snapped angrily.

"That hurts, boy. Men of a feather, you know? After all, you haven't been much of either yourself either."

"What did you do to her?!" He switched back to the original question. He wasn't exactly sure which 'her' the other was talking about – was it Hermione or Ginny? Or someone else? It didn't even matter though, and he was angry at the thought of any of his friends in danger. Or worse.

"Well, why don't you make me tell you?" Tyki asked, and Harry paused in surprise, "You're a big boy now right? So let me see what you've got."

His mind screamed '_trap_!' over and over. It was very obvious. But the only other choice he even had was running. The exits were the ladder and the door behind the Noah that would take him down broken stairs. He could call for help, and that option popped into his mind after a moment's hesitation.

Despite how much it hurt his pride, he found himself reaching for his wand and drawing it, motioning it upwards instead of toward his enemy. Apparently, it was the wrong thing to do.

The blow to his stomach almost sent him to his knees. He hadn't even noticed the other move. But then, he was rather use to that kind of thing by now. The Noah's free hand arched to give a blow to Harry's back, but he saw it coming out of the corner of his eyes. He twisted away, shoving the fist at his wait level away, and started to raise his wand again. Before he'd even gotten it above his chest, it was hit aside harshly, and he saw the knife-hand headed for his wrist.

He let it hit, and he let his wand fall. The move was something he never would've done before, never would've dreamed of _allowing_, but he already knew that this was a fight in a different 'world' where magic is not the primary source of fighting. He was not fast enough to struggle on with his wand. But in return, he had a different idea.

The moment the wand left his finger tips, he spun on his toes, and a roundhouse made a solid connection with the other's ribs. He almost slipped then, because it had been done from an awkward position that he wasn't use to, and a piece of rubble shifted just a little under his foot. He could tell that at least he'd given the other a surprise, and it was what he needed.

He aimed a punch at the others face, making sure that his elbow and wrist was loose and at the right angle. He checked himself as a hand caught his fist and he leveled himself before slipping one foot in just a little in between the other's stance. He did a knife-hand of his own, spinning just as it was blocked, and positioned his other foot just on the inside of the Noah's other foot, using his momentum to try an elbow hit. It was ducked, no surprise there, but then he shifted his feet just so.

Tyki's eyes widened when he suddenly felt the pressure almost making him loose his stance completely. He jumped back, but instead of watching the wizard boy wait and hesitate, the other pushed forward, valiantly attacking on.

Harry did not think about what he was doing. He simply moved. He tried to pretend he was just sparring with one of the exorcists, instead of in a fight for his life against a Noah. He used all the moves he could think of. He tried being sneaky and creative. He tried not to forget that his legs existed – a habit of his when he got into blocking and punching.

He wasn't sure if he was actually pressuring the other or not, but he was pretty sure that Tyki was just playing around, and certainly not being driven back for real. It didn't matter. Just a little more...

He went for a leg swipe that actually almost succeeded. It was a split second decision. Seeing the other so off balanced, he reached one arm out to the side, and seconds later felt the comforting wood of his wand in his hand. The other saw this, eyes narrowing, and he lunged backwards, swinging his arm before himself and crying out a shielding charm.

It was successful, but as the light of the spell expanded before him, he caught sight of a dark fist before he found the it felt like a building had been thrown at him. He slid back several feet, startled and alarmed. It took that long for the other to skid around the barrier, jumping forward to attack.

The other had best most definitely holding back, if these attacks were anything to go by. He winced – he blocked most of the hits, but each one felt like someone was swinging cinder blocks instead of fists. The end to the combination came; A leg buried itself in his side, and suddenly he found himself greeting the steel door leading into the building very formally.

Pain blossoming in his body, his side and back in particular, he struggled to get back his barrings. A weight pressed into his back, and he found his tung stinging. He spit blood to the side, annoyed to find he'd bitten it, and he tried to push himself out again.

"Trying to fight unfairly, huh?"

"What're you talking about?" He growled angrily.

"Well, I certainly don't have a wand. As interesting as that would be."

Harry glanced back far enough to see the other with a distantly curious look, and he was pretty sure the other was imagining what it would be like to have a wand. He beat the foot off his back and spun around before he could be pinned again, spinning from in front of the door completely. He found himself glad he did when he caught sight of the boot in the new hole.

"So what did you do to my friends?" He demanded, training his wand on the other.

"I didn't do anything," The other shrugged again, "Like I said. She did try to follow me though, and I've gotta admit that it wasn't the smartest move to make."

He growled softly. He noticed something just beyond the Noah. He struggled to pretend he never noticed, instead replying,

"I don't believe you."

"About which part?"

"Why are you working with Voldemort?" He changed the subject swiftly, "And why were you here? Are you hiding something here?"

"Even if we were," Tyki blinked, "I wouldn't be in my right mind if I told you."

His time was up. Gritting his teeth, Harry backed up and through up a shield charm just as an absolutely huge flaming dragon smashed into the area Tyki had just been standing. The heat was tremendous, and he covered his eyes, looking away.

"How rude," The voice sent shivers down his back, and he glanced through narrowed eyes to see the Noah slide near him, his shirt partially burnt but otherwise unharmed. He dodged away just in time to avoid the giant hammer, only to jump away again to avoid an angry black-haired exorcist.

"Harry!" The wizard turned and looked to spot Lavi, making motions with his hands, and he understood.

Before the floor could finish crumbling, Harry ran toward the hammer, jumping at the last minute as the building crumbled completely, grasping a hold of the long handle. He felt himself being lifted higher and higher. But instead of being safely set on another building, he suddenly found himself being thrown somewhere, the hammer stopping so abruptly that it was yanked from his hands and he found himself completely airborne.

He tried not to panic. Thankfully, before he could get a good look at the ground or how fast it was coming up, he spotted a white blur that slowed when it neared. He recognized the other, and he quickly caught the hand thrust out to him. He ignored the free fall feeling – not too hard since he'd done so many crazy dives on his broom.

Feet hit another roof and he shakily checked himself over. He wasn't very surprised to see Allen watching him in concern.

"Thanks," He mumbled in slight annoyance, mostly aimed at himself and not the other. He dusted himself off, ignoring the sting in his hand from where he'd cut it sliding under the akuma, rolling his very sore shoulders. He was sure he'd be much worse off a few hours from now.

Glancing around, he found he was a ways from the other Noah, and he discovered that there were no more akuma that he could see. Chances were, he'd been spotted when the exorcists had been looking around to make sure that they were all taken care of.

"Are you alright?" Allen asked, watching him still.

"Could be worse," He replied under his breath, "How about you?"

"Well, even though there were a lot of them, they were still just level one's. I'll be fine," Allen flashed his trademark smile and ruffled his own hair, "Where's Link?"

"..I!" Harry blinked, startled, before looking around wildly as if the other would appear, "I don't know. He said he was going to wait on the street while I was on the roof of that other building, but then Tyki appeared, and I haven't seen him. You don't think that he...?"

"Link's pretty strong," The other did seem a bit worried though, "I'm sure he's... alive at least. Help me find him."

"Alive... Yeah, that's reassuring," He grumbled in concern. Honestly, he was a bit distracted. He hadn't expected the rather sudden 'help me find him' part – granted, he would've done it without prompting, and it wasn't a strange thing to say. But Allen was... not prone to mentioning help of any kind, unless he was the one giving it out. It was actually nice to hear, passing comment though it was.

"He probably isn't quite around that bank building, so let's check the streets around it," Allen suggested, motioning for the other to come closer. Harry did, mostly out of curiosity, and he hadn't been expecting to be grabbed and suddenly vaulted over the side. He let out a startled sound when they landed, twitching.

"That... was that really necessary?"

The exorcist his a smile behind his transformed hand,

"Maybe not," He admitted, "But you looked like you needed it."

"'It' as in...?" Harry glanced around as he talked before sending the other a faintly amused look. His question went unanswered as he followed the other down the side of the street in the shadows. He couldn't exactly see so well, so he relied on on the other to lead the way, keeping his ears on the exorcist and his eyes on the ground, to help him move as quietly as possible.

The first street they checked turned up nothing out of the ordinary. Nor the second. The third wasn't any luckier than the first. He was beginning to wonder if maybe calling out was a good idea when, passing by an ally, he spotted something strange. He skidded to a stop, and thankfully the other noticed without him saying something.

He pointed down the ally way. He could see a bit of blood staining the wall just inside the entrance, and he had no idea whether it was old or new. Allen took the lead again in order to stave off any danger, should they come across it.

They walked slowly, cautiously. There was no more blood throughout the whole ally, but as they reached the very end...

The wall beside them exploded and suddenly Allen found himself encircled by glowing talismans.

Harry moved without really thinking. He pulled out his wand, snapped it at attention, and shot a stunning hex into the darkness of the hole. He knew very quickly by the sound of rushing fabric and movement that it had been dodged, but then he heard,

"Potter?"

Link stepped out of the shadows, looking quite the mess. His hair was messy, his face cut up. He held his side as a bit of blood dripped from his chin, and made a movement with his other hand. Harry looked to find Allen, who had been immobilized, released from the talismans. The exorcist quickly moved to the other's side, but was shooed away.

"I'll live," Link told them with a frown, "Frankly, I'm a bit surprised you are as well, Potter. I had almost been expecting the worst."

"Almost?" Harry asked with the smallest of grins, "Does that mean you had a _little_ confidence in me?"

"None whatsoever," The other replied flatly. The wizards grin grew nonetheless, and he paused to let the seriousness set back in before asking, "How come I never heard the fight between you and the Noah?"

"That's assuming there was one," Link stood up straighter, ignoring Allen's concerned warning, "That Noah used his ability to drag me away before you could notice anything amiss. I had planned to warn you – or one of the exorcists. But I only just regained consciousness myself."

"At least you'll be okay," Harry looked him over again, noticing the slightly slumped shoulders and the droopy eyes, "You look like crap."

"You don't look much better," Came the annoyed reply, "And Potter?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

Allen coughed, hiding another tiny smile, but at the cost of drawing attention to himself.

"And you, Walker! Don't ever go running off like that again, or I'm going to have to do something you don't want me to."

Harry wondered what the would be before he felt a slight tingling. It spread slowly before he felt a sharp pain in his scar, burning and searing in pain. He didn't notice wen he dropped to his knees, and he wondered when he had when he noticed the other two looking at him with varying expressions of concern. He opened his mouth to warn them – he didn't even know what kind of warning he would've given, but whatever it was, was cut off by a soft hissing that grew in volume, echoing around them.

"What is that?" Link dropped into a defensive stance while Allen stood over the wizard protectively, cape swirling and ready to defend.

A huge snake reared up out of the darkness, it's eyes reflecting the light of the moon. It's tung flicked out to taste the air as it slithered a bit closer. It paused when Harry let out a hiss of his own; one of pain.

Then he was suddenly sitting in a dark room, staring at the Malfoy family. He was feeling annoyed – it was faint and understandable, but he didn't _like_ being annoyed when his underlings couldn't be bothered to do something right. He made to admonish them; What was a good punishment, he wondered?

Then it hit him with the suddenness of a flash flood, that his precious pet had _found_ him, he who he'd been searching for. The boy, the _brat_, that had ever dared rise up against him. He felt a sicking pleasure, a similar anger. He was out of his chair in an instant. He hardly noticed the Malfoy's fearful glance up at him. He hissed out at them, telling them to leave, that he had more _important_ things to do with his time, like murder the Boy-Who-Lived.

Then he was himself again, gasping for breath was staring into Allen Walker's cursed eye as it bled at the corners.

"Harry, was that...?" Allen was not so confident in what he'd seen this time.

"He's... He's... C-comi...ing," Harry shuddered, his head feeling like it would split apart any second, as if there were two people pulling at opposite sides.

"Time to go, then," Link announced, gathering himself, "I'm fine Walker, don't look at me like that."

Allen turned his attention back to Harry, lifting the other with one arm around his neck, and his arm around the others waist. Wondering what was wrong with them, he found that the giant snake, Nagini, was nowhere in sight. Then his feet left the ground and he was flying once again.

Harry caught sight of a small portion of the town once more, and he could see no akuma, nor anybody at all. He spotted the other exorcists on the second jump, looking around as if someone had just gone missing, which was actually probably the case.

"Oi! Allen!" Lavi waved, "What's wrong?"

"We've got to get going," Link replied instead, "Scary Dark Lord on it's way, apparently."

"Okay, got it, but what's with Harry?" The red head knelt before the wizard and forced him to look him in the eyes. He frowned in faint alarm, "Where are you hurt?"

"I'm... not," Harry gritted out, "Just... We gotta go!"

"I'll take your word for it," The Bookman Jr. winced slightly, then helped Harry off of Allen's shoulder, "Alright, take it away Allen."

Instead of opening the arc immediately, Link pulled out his communication golem before speaking,

"This is Link, accompanied by Allen Walker, Lavi, Kanda Yuu, and Harry Potter. We're requesting permission for an emergency arc entrance."

Harry swallowed his first reaction, which would have been rather violent.

"You need permission for an emergency?" He hissed at Lavi, "What's the point then?"

The other shrugged helplessly, shifting Harry to try and make him a little more comfortable in order to take his mind off of the splitting headache pain he felt, he if only a little.

"This is headquarters," A male voice responded from the golem, "State reasons for an emergency entrance."

"We have reason to believe that we will not make it to the take-off point before the enemies leader arrives. All the akuma have been taken care of."

There was no immediate response, and Allen looked to be going impatient very quickly, glancing at Harry in concern when he groaned softly in pain.

Harry looked to the sky. It was like a sixth sense. He could sense it – Voldemort was almost here. He hissed this warning at whoever was listening, pressing his palm to his scar as hard as he could, as if he could force the pain away.

"This is Headquarters. Permission has been granted."

Allen spun away so fast that his jacket did an impressive imitation of Snape's robes on a bad day. He shut his eyes in concentration, and within a few seconds, the number 11 appeared under his feet, glowing. The door opened just as impressively as it usually did, all bright and huge. A fresh wave of pain hit, and Harry couldn't stop himself from looking.

He saw Voldemort just a ways away, making haste toward him, and he threw a spell out mostly out of anger and reflex than anything else. Then he was being shoved through the light, and he experienced a few seconds of warmth and light that was too bright, yet didn't bother his eyes.

Then he landed on a cobblestone street, and rolled aside just as Kanda jumped in, though whether he would've landed on Harry, he wasn't sure.

Lavi appeared, his expression a bit frantic and stumbling as if he'd been pushed as well.

Then Allen was blasted through, his cloak wrapped around him completely as a familiar green light drove him backwards. Lavi's quick thinking shut the door, and for a moment there was silence.

Harry felt frozen. There was no mistaking what that spell had been. He'd seen it in his nightmare's often enough to know. He stared at Allen, having skidded to a stop a few feet away. Then he was crawling over hurriedly, heart pounding in fear, eyes wide. He ignored the phantom pain of his scar, now that he was quite the distance away from the Dark Lord himself.

He tugged on Allen's cloak. Was he dead? He should be. What would Harry say if he was? What would he do? He was already going crazy in his head, and he didn't want to be responsible for another's death.

Particularly when he had come to accept this person as a friend.

Allen's face was that of mild pain, a wince. When the exorcist blinked up at Harry's frightened expression, he sat up and looked around to make sure everyone was alright.

"Well..." Lavi rubbed the back of his neck, "That's an experience I would rather not repeat anytime soon."

Kanda slapped the other on the back of the head in annoyance, and Harry sat back, filled with absolute relief. It felt a little foolish of him now – Innocence had blocked every spell ever to hit it, so even that killing curse should be the same. Still, that fear when he thought the other had...

"I'm glad everyone's alright," Allen flashed that grin of his again, and stood, dusting himself off, "Harry, are you alright now?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm okay," He took the hand offered to him and stood on shaky legs, "Thanks. And by the way, don't do that again."

He caught sight of Allen's slightly bewildered face as his tone changed from relieved to slightly angry, and he turned to hide his slight smile. He looked up the street of the arc, ignoring the continuous pound of his scar, radiating Voldemort's rage. For some reason, the full extent of it didn't seem to reach him here.

He was the first to see Lenalee headed for their group, waving in concern, and he gave a small wave back. She was followed by a group of scientists and helpers in case someone was seriously wounded. As he found himself surrounded by the crowd, he was not at all ignored in favor of the exorcists. There was only one thought going through his mind.

_It felt good to be back._

__--*--__

A/N: Blah. That's all I have to say. Blah.

Review?


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: So. I have decided to... speed a bit. That is, I don't think anyone wants this to be a 100+ chaptered story, so. (Well, we're not even near that, but still.) I think it's time to focus more on the progression than the character bond developments, like what I have been doing... this whole time, just about. So, new arc. And the return of the two that everyone's been asking about.

I want to kinda put emphasis on how much Harry's changed, which is a fair bit, now that he's had time to himself to sort through things. I don't think it's important or necessary to go through that process, do you? So, I'm going to use a bit of my favorite outside POV (I always find those so interesting. Usually.).

In other news, I have been watching the scene from the musical Cabaret, the song Wilkommen, and it's oh so amusing, haha.

__--*--__

She was floating, weightless. Her feet didn't touch anything, not the ground, not the floor, and not even the ceiling, which she felt was completely possible if she were as weightless as she felt. She also felt as if nothing could effect her. Not even time. If she were to remain there, in this strange space, she wondered if she would age at all. She was surrounded by warmth, and a gentle light that demanded her full spectrum of vision, but wasn't unpleasant to look at.

And then there was a great rushing of wind and space and generally everything around her. The ground appeared under her feet once more, as if rising up to meet her instead of her being set down upon it. The light began to dissipate rapidly, and she blinked a few times to get rid of the after image. She felt perfectly balance instead of unstable, like apparition was often prone to doing. But she knew one thing for sure.

A few moments ago, she had not been in the middle of a forest.

She was eying it immediately. The trees were very, very tall, intimidating even. They blocked out much of the sky, and despite the fact that it was definitely mid-winter, many of the trees retained their leaves. Though many were also evergreen.

"Hermione?" She jumped. She'd completely forgotten that she wasn't alone. Turning quickly, she spotted Ron, looking unsure, "What... Or rather, where do you think we are now?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," She replied, mystified, "I don't know. We... We stepped into that light, again, but I don't think...."

"Maybe Harry is around here," He perked up, optimistic for the first time in a long time, "I mean, that's what it's done before, mostly, isn't it? Maybe he passed by here recently?"

"It could've been a coincidence, Ron. We shouldn't get our hope up."

But even as she said it, she felt her own hopes rise, hopeful that maybe, just maybe, her best friend was around here, was maybe even somewhere near. Her heart speeding a little, she looked around, and then she pulled out a wand.

"Point me, Harry Potter," She whispered, watching as her wand spun rapidly, waiting for it to stop. It never did. A little frustrated – she'd gotten the exact results every single other time she'd tried it, and similar results from other tracking spells, but she'd hoped that maybe it would work anyways, even if only because they might be close.

Clearly, she was mistaken.

"Which way do we go?" Ron asked, turning in a complete circle to look around, "It all looks the same to me."

Hermione bit her lip in thought. They weren't on a path. She couldn't see anything that might lead them to their friend, and she highly doubted any spells would work. She tried a few anyways, of course, but indeed, the results were very much the same.

"Hey, do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" She frowned, lifting her face just a little and sniffing gently. She found it very quickly, "Is that... The ocean?...Maybe we should..."

She didn't bother to finish. Instead, she used another Point Me, and this time it landed in a particular direction, pointing just to her left. They followed it quickly, and she tried to quell her thoughts. She had so much to say to him...

She led the way, since she was the one holding the wand, and had to watch where she was going carefully. There was a lot of underbrush and roots just waiting to trip her. And it was a good thing she did, for only a few minutes after they started walking, she almost stepped right off the land to fall into the ocean.

Ron let out a cry of surprise, and almost tumbled in as well.

"That... that was close. You alright 'Mione?"

"Fine," She frowned, looking out carefully after pocketing the wand and getting a good hold on a large tree. She had to lean out a bit, and she was aware of the Weasly's cautious grip on the back of her shirt, wand in his free hand just in case. She surveyed the line, and then spotted it, "Look! See that?"

"See wha-" His question was cut off as he took the chance and leaned forward just enough to get a glimpse. His eyes widened and he spoke in awe, "That's... That thing has to be as big as Hogwarts."

Hermione couldn't take her eyes off it. If the great castle had been built here to avoid being found – though granted, she didn't know where they were, so for all she knew, a town could be a mile or two away – then it wasn't exactly camouflaged. It was huge; They were a far ways from it, but it still towered above the area. The highest trees took up several floors, if the windows were anything to go by, but there were many floors above them still. The land it was on jutted out a bit, causing the great building to stick out. And the main thing that made it stick out was it's color.

It was pure white, sticking out of the thick green foliage like a sore thumb.

"Do you think...?"

He didn't even finish, afraid that voicing it would ruin the chancing and foil his hope. Hermione swallowed before she carefully maneuvered her way onto safe land. She moved away from the edge just to be safe.

"Move back, you never know if the edge will collapse," She warned.

"If it can hold all these trees, I doubt it would have trouble with us," Ron mumbled, but he did anyway. Once he was far back enough, he turned his hopeful gaze back to her, "So, are we going to go there? What are the chances of finding someone, or something, that doesn't want to kill us?"

"I'd say our chances of that are pretty slim nowadays," She gave a small smile that she hoped looked reassuring, "But it's worth it to check. I'd never forgive myself if we left now and found out that he's... really up there."

Ron nodded in agreement, though he still looked unsure. Quickly, he built up his courage and determination. It was comforting for her to see.

They set off, taking to the shoreline and heading toward the giant white castle. They had to be very careful. The both had moments of almost tripping or falling out right. The branches and foliage caught at their clothes and skin, and eventually she'd had the presence of mind to do something about it. However, they began to tire an hour or so into the walking and struggling alone, and it wasn't until they took a small rest that anything at all interesting happened.

At first they thought it was an animal. They'd passed many, from birds to insects. Thankfully, they'd come across nothing threatening so far, but personally, Hermione figured that it wouldn't be good to ignore the possibility. So when the bushes rattled worryingly, she'd drawn her wand instantly. They'd both wound themselves up throughout the trek, thinking about what they might find, and if they found Harry, how the situation would play out. Ron, she found, had done similar. But instead of something fearsome emerging, it was a small round thing with bat wings, which flapped rapidly to keep itself in the air.

"What the bloody hell is that?!" Ron exclaimed, lowering his wand in his confusion. Something about it seemed familiar to Hermione, but she couldn't place it.

"I don't know," She murmured back, "I don't really recognize it... seems familiar, but I can't place how..."

The creature swayed in the air before darting around the trees and their heads. A moment later, a very human voice issued from it when it stopped just out of their physical reach.

"Who are you? State your purpose."

She was startled. Was it some kind of muggle technology? Or was that castle privy to a magical organization of some sort? The voice didn't give anything away. It was young, but still a fair bit older than themselves. An adult, whose voice was stern and purposeful. She hesitated and shared a look with her companion.

"I... We're here, looking for someone."

"Who are you looking for that would be out here?" Was that a hint of exasperation of amusement? She couldn't tell.

"None of your business," Ron shot back, and she resisted the urge to throw something at him, "Who are _you_, anyway?"

"That is not the way to get information out of me," The voice sighed, "You are as he has described you to be. I imagine you're looking for Harry, right?"

"How do you know Harry?!" Ron snapped over Hermione's gasp, "Have you done anything to him? Where is he?!"

"You are the last person that should be concerned over what we've done to him," The voice had a twing of disrespect in there, mixed with disappointment. Hermione tried to shake to feeling of guilt it caused, as if she'd been scolded by her parents, "But I can say that he's alive and well. If that is all you wanted to know, you are free to leave now."

"Not until we see him!" The red-head exclaimed angrily, "Let us see him!"

"Even if he doesn't want to see you?"

Silence enveloped them, and she felt her stomach rolling unpleasantly. She's worried about this ever since she'd become 'herself' again. What if he didn't want to talk to them anymore? What if he died, and she never got to apologize? What if he wouldn't even listen to her? She glanced over and could see a similarly shaken Ron, and she looked back at the small thing,

"Please," She pleaded, "We really must talk to him. If... if he doesn't want to see us, I can understand, but we have information for him. Let us see him at least for that."

For a moment there was no reply from the creature, and then it issued a sigh.

"As determined as I heard as well. Very well. But the forest around here is very dangerous and difficult to navigate. Someone is headed there now, so please just wait there for a moment."

"But that'll take way too long," Ron argued.

"Patience is a virtue," The other was definitely amused now, "Don't worry. Lenalee will be with you in just a couple moments. Please hang tight until then."

Then it flapped harder and rose up through the treetops, until they couldn't see it anymore.

"Who is Len-ah-lee?" He wondered, pronouncing the name slowly and cautiously, "I don't think these people are magical, at any rate."

"Actually," She voiced her suspicions, "That castle is probably the head quarters to those exorcists. I can't imagine any place else Harry would be. They did mention not knowing about magic before hand, after all."

A look of dawning realization appeared on the others face before it smoothed into a 'of-course!' expression. She stifled a fond smile, followed by her pang of guilt. She could only imagine what it'd been like for Harry, especially after the two people he'd trusted most had abandoned him when he needed them the most... Lost amongst those 'Exorcists', whom he didn't know well, didn't understand, couldn't trust. Nobody around who knows even the most basic about magic. Away from all things familiar...

A whistling cut off her depressing thoughts, changing her to be alarmed instead. Her wand was in her hand within seconds, and her head snapped upwards, followed by Ron, who was no doubt following whatever lead she had.

The trees parted as if by a strong wind, the branches shaking violently as a figure darted through to land nearby. Ron's face said exactly what he was thinking – 'What in Merlin's name just fell from the sky?'

It was a girl – she stood almost as soon as she landed, letting out a small breath of... relief? Concern? Hermione couldn't tell, but the other girl was young; She wondered what the difference in their age was. The other wore some kind of uniform, short skirt, jacket with a familiar emblem. But what caught Hermione's eye was the strange, large boots, for that's the only thing she could think they could be, attached to the other's feet. They certainly _looked_ magical, but the girl wore no robes, and she recognized the Black Order's sign well by now.

Then the girl looked to them. Hermione briefly missed the welcoming smile aimed at them. The other was Asian, Chinese to be exact, and very pretty. She thought, for a moment, of Cho Chang, and wondered how Harry thought of her.

"Hello," The girl made no move to walk nearer, but her smile never wavered, "My name is Lenalee. I'm going to guide you through the forest around here, if that is all right with you?"

"Are you an... exorcist?" Ron said it with a bit more spite than Hermione thought was prudent to show.

"I am," Lenalee blinked, shrugged, and smiled again, "Is there something wrong with that?"

The Weasly opened his mouth, and Hermione could tell by the look on his face that whatever he had to say wasn't the most pleasant or kind of things, so she stepped forward, hoping to at least stay on the neutral.

"No, not at all," She offered a smile of her own, and was annoyed to find it strained, "We're just... a bit on edge. We've been... very worried, and now that we've-"

"Where's Harry?" Ron cut in, and she nearly hexed him, "Is he alright?"

Lenalee showed a brief frown, one with a bit of disappointment, which dig right underneath the witch's skin.

"He is just fine," The other replied earnestly, if not a bit flatly, "He has been taken care of well here. Now, if you'll just follow me. Be careful that you don't step into a small, foot sized hole. There's a lot of those around here."

The attempt at changing the subject was so obvious that Hermione didn't think the other was even trying to hide it. Was she displeased or annoyed? That didn't seem quite right. She couldn't put her wand on it, but she felt as though there would be many more harboring secret opinions about them, and she wasn't looking forward to seeing any of it. Part of her bristled, wondering what right any of them had to judge.

She followed beside Ron, right behind the exorcist, and it was due to not paying attention that a few minutes later, Ron stepped into a small foot-sized hole and sprained his ankle. He was lucky she had learned at least that much to get him walking again, and she felt a little bit calmed down afterwards, and perhaps guiltier. It only seemed to be fuel on the fire for Ron though, and she counted it lucky he hadn't said anything so far.

Her luck was only so strong though. They were approaching the castle, it loomed over them though they still had a bit more to go, when he finally spoke softly, which she did not take as a good sign.

"How did Harry spend his Christmas? Alone?"

She was surprised at the question. She had to admit she was curious – Christmas was a week ago, and it had been the most loneliest and guilt ridden holiday she'd ever had. It had been for both of them; Probably for everyone on the Light as well, but she allowed herself a moment of self pity in thinking that perhaps hers was a little worse.

"I think you should ask Harry that," Lenalee's eyes flashed with knowledge, and Hermione caught hold of it quickly.

"You know what?" Ron stopped walking, and waved off the witch's attempts to silence him, "That's all we've been getting from your kind, and we haven't even been here that long! Do you think we're scum? That we shouldn't have come? You're judging us on one bloody mistake!"

The exorcist looked surprised at the mini outburst, and then hesitant. Hermione wondered if maybe that faint annoyance or judgment was just a figment of her nervous imagination, but then the girl relaxed and plastered on a patient, soft smile that mother's wore for their children.

"You know... Exorcists... many of them don't live very long," Both Hermione and Ron froze at the unexpected words, "I know everyone had their own ways of dealing with... all of it, and many, like myself, find comfort in Home, and in friends. We're all in this together – We all fight together. Like yourselves, in your own war."

The unspoken words were more obvious to Hermione, and she felt a bit more ashamed. She should've stuck together with her friend, who was the most important person to protect and watch over and help. She should've done a lot of things different probably, and the excuse of having the Horcrux around her neck seemed much weaker now, even if it was a deciding factor in her actions.

Ron looked downtrodden, and had probably lost his fiery will to argue back. He had even more reason to be ashamed, and he'd taken the whole thing even harder than her.

"But!" Lenalee's smile became warmer, more genuine, "That's no reason to get you down! What's done is done, so you just have to work harder to make it up to Harry. Everyone makes mistakes, and you were lucky that there were no worse consequences, so take this chance and make it worth it."

The wizard at Hermione's side slumped his shoulders, the self-righteous anger he'd been gathering and holding for his future confrontation with their friend crumbling like old bread. She felt discouraged as well, but she was the first to start following the exorcist again.

The trees seemed closer together than before, but that could've been her imagination. They walked uphill for a while before they finally reached the huge doors set before them. They were huge, rivaling the doors to Hogwarts, and she knew she was not the only one admiring the many, many stained-glass windows littering the sides of the castle. It really was a beautiful building, intimidating in a different way than Hogwarts. Perhaps it was because Hogwarts was just so old, and filled with magic. Here though, was the headquarters to an organization dedicated to winning a mostly secret war.

At the door, Lenalee led the way inside. She was calm, not darting her gaze around like the two behind her.

Their were familiar suits of armor and white stone surrounding them, and Hermione had to admit that maybe Harry hadn't been as far away from anything familiar as she'd thought. Everything was so bright, was brilliant, and she was amazed at it all. The stained-glass windows showered colored light on them as they walked through the spacious hallway, and she felt like she was slipping into a dream of some kind.

They were led through several hallways, until they emerged on a walkway overlooking a huge room with a humongous stained-glass window, and chandeliers, and so much that she was having a hard time taking it all in. It was beautiful. Added to the small figures below that knelt in front of a large statue, praying, it seemed almost surreal.

"Welcome to the Black Order," The new voice made them jump, they turned to see another Chinese man looking at them carefully, "It's quite the sight, isn't it?"

They both nodded solemnly, for that was really all they felt they could do. They were surprised to see the man smile slightly before introducing himself,

"My name is Komui Lee, and I am the Head Chief here."

"It's... nice to meet you," Hermione offered quietly, but gathering herself, she continued in a stronger voice, "I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasly. Is... Will you let us see Harry?"

"Well, I couldn't say no after letting you come her, now could I?" Komui shrugged carelessly, "Of course, it's really entirely up to him. But I'll take you to him. He's currently in the infirmary."

"Why?" Ron asked anxiously, "Is he alright?"

"Yes, yes, he's fine," The man nodded slightly and made a small wave with his hand, "He's just resting up a bit. He's due to be discharged here soon, I think. I'm sure that the Matron was just being careful, and thorough."

Hermione was glad that he was being taken care of, at least. But she wasn't entirely convinced that it had been very pleasant here either.

"Lenalee, you're free to come with us if you like. I'm sure they'd like your company... well, as long as they don't enjoy it _too_ much, at least."

"I was planning to go visit them later, after I finish my rounds," The girl replied honestly, "I won't take too long, but you should go ahead without me."

"Suit yourself," Komui shrugged again and started walking away. Towards the end of the walkway, he pointed at Ron and warned with a frown, "And you. Let me give you fair warning. Don't get any ideas about my Lenalee, understand? Magic or not, she's out of bounds for filthy boys!"

Ron and Hermione shared a glance of bewilderment, but Ron realized he was waiting for an answer, so he blinked and said,

"Um, that's okay? I won't try anything."

"If you even look at my beloved sister the wrong way..." Komui gave the evil eye, and when he seemed to realize that the boy was telling the truth, smiled again, "Well anyways, as long as that's settled. The infirmary's not that far ahead."

They shared another looked before calming down and continuing to follow. Hermione was trying very hard to stifle her nerves, which weren't being cooperative at the moment. Her footsteps seemed unusually loud, as was her heart. Glancing over, she saw Ron was in a similar state, if not worse.

The infirmary door was also fairly large, flanked on either side by suits of armor. Komui waved for them to stop, and so they did.

"Wait here for just a moment."

Then the man disappeared into the doors. They both leaned forward to listen, mostly out of habit. It had been left slightly open, and she thought that it might've been done on purpose. They heard sounds of surprise, followed by a voice she faintly recognized,

"Komui! What're you doing here?"

"I'm allowed to visit, aren't I? So suspicious!" Komui huffed, and she caught a small glimpse of his long white coat.

"You're the one that's suspicious," Another voice grumbled, "Don't try to play innocent. It doesn't suit you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," was the Chief's flat reply, followed by soft laughter that she was able to pick apart and find His, "Harry, you sure have been working hard. If the Matron comes in and sees you out of bed again, she won't be happy."

"I can't help it," Was the vaguely amused reply that sent Hermione's heart into her throat, "I _would_ be in my own bed, but Lavi insisted on seeing the books, and I was tired of laying down anyway."

"It's your funeral," Komui chuckled, and she was struck by the familiarity in the situation, "But as luck did have it, I _am_ here for a reason this time. Harry, has the Matron given you a release time yet?"

"Not exactly," Harry sounded slightly put off, "But she hinted I could leave later on today, maybe for lunch, and that's not far away."

"It's certainly not. I would prefer it to wait until you were released, but..."

"But...? What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, per se. But there is a bit of a... surprise waiting for you. Two, in fact."

She wasn't expecting it when the door was pulled open from the inside, revealing the infirmary. She stifled her gasp of surprise and tensed.

The infirmary was just as white as most places, but there were a few more decorations about than most. The beds were very similar to the ones she had known at Hogwarts, and there were two rows, placing the head board against opposite walls. Across the way and three beds down was Harry, sitting at the end of the bed, facing the exorcist, Lavi, whom she remembered fairly well. They were both surrounded by books and paper, making it an almost comical sight. Allen sat on the bed to Lavi's left, and a sleeping Link beside him, and they all looked at them with utter astonishment.

Hermione was too surprised and choked up to say anything, and she suspected it was the same for Ron, who stood rigidly to her left. Her eyes locked with Harry's, and she felt herself stiffen even more.

Harry was different. His eyes were different. His hair was a little longer, a little neater. His glasses were smaller than they used to be, clean, and they sat in front of green eyes that showed wisdom, power, and knowledge that wasn't there before when they'd left. There was something about him also that seemed to show resignation. He had been well fed, and he appeared completely healthy, but it was the eyes that worried her the most.

"...Ron... Hermione," Harry ventured first, which that alone was a testament to his character, "How'd you find this place?"

"This," Ron seemed eager to please, for he took out the deluminator Dumbledore had left him and held it out before him, "I don't know how it works. But one day, when we were... When we really..."

He seemed to struggle for a moment,

"It took all the lights from the room and we knew... so we got out stuff and it took us to a train station. And then when it worked again, it took us to... to Godrics' Hollow, after the... attack. Then it took us near here."

"I see..." There was an awkward silence before Harry sighed, "And... why did you come back?"

She couldn't deny that it hurt to hear that question, posed so calmly, and she feared that maybe they _were_ too late. She was more shocked though, that he would ask that question in front of other people. That he would expect them to spill their guts in front of an audience. She looked and found that Ron took it similarly, and his face flashed with a minute amount of betrayal. While she knew he probably couldn't bring himself to say it all in front of others, she was tired of feeling so badly, though it probably wouldn't fade for a very long time. She would beg, if she had to.

"Harry, we-" Komui cut in before she could finish,

"I'm going to go find the Matron, so play nice."

He slipped out of the door then, shutting it behind him, his foot falls fading after a few seconds. She had to take a deep breath and gather herself again.

"Harry, we really regret what we did. I know... I know it hasn't been easy for you, and we... there's nothing I can tell you to explain how sorry we are, and there's no real excuse for it either."

Harry watched them sharper than he every had before, and she tried to ignore the stares from the others in the room. He frowned at her, and then turned back and began shuffling the papers back together. It was strange to see him looking studious. When he didn't answer for several long seconds, Ron visible lost his patience.

"Look," The red head started, in a much softer voice than any of them expected, "It hasn't been exactly easy for us either, alright?! It's not like we just sat around feeling sorry for ourselves. What do you want us to say?"

"That isn't the attitude to take when you're trying to get someone to forgive you," Harry shot back instantly, startling his two visitors. Ron clenched his hands, his nerves escalating, his guilt no doubt doing the same. Hermione blinked back the first prickling of tears – she'd expected this! - but it was harder than she would've liked to admit.

"Harry," She hesitated, "I... don't blame you for being angry with us. If... if you don't want to be friends again, I can understand that as well. But, I did some research while we were... gone. If nothing else, let us try to help you with this."

He finished with the papers, and he set them on top of the closest stack of books, looked thoughtful, and then shrugged,

"Fine."

There was a moment of silence before Ron burst out,

"...Fine?!"

Harry looked at them with a slightly calculating gaze and a small grin. She wondered if she were the only one to notice the tint of sadness.

"I can't exactly afford to turn down information anymore," He admitted, and she really wondered what he'd gone through to make him change so much, "Hermione's smart, at the very least she can help me piece some things together that's been on my mind lately. Hopefully. I'm sure Komui won't mind if you stayed for a little while, at least."

Hermione didn't know if this was better than being thrown out or not. They were allowed to stay. But Harry didn't seem to be ready to forgive them for anything, didn't seem to intend to think of them as friends. It was better, she supposed, because if the information she had could help him in any way, then it was worth it. But it still hurt.

Ron blinked several times, seemingly picking up on the cool attitude they were being treated with. He shifted uncomfortably, no doubt unsure how to act now.

"By the way, how did the Ministry handle the attack on Godric's Hollow?" Harry wondered, "I would've thought they would try to cover it up."

Ron and Hermione shared a look then, and Hermione ventured cautiously,

"That's, actually, something I wanted to talk to you about," She rummaged in her pocket for only a moment before finding what she was looking for. She pulled it out and hesitated before taking a step forward, feeling as if she were trespassing. She approached Lavi's bed, and held it out uncomfortably when she neared. She was glad when Ron followed her closely.

He took the packet of papers curiously, and he turned it around so he could see it clearly. She got a good look at his face as his eyes widened.

"What is this?!" He exclaimed in disbelief. Lavi leaned forward and laughed outright. Allen titled his head in curiosity.

"Well," She started, "None of the newspapers would print the story – the Ministry really did try to cover it up. But the photographer, some man named Simm, claimed to have been there during the attack. He mass produced that, which you're looking at, and instead of selling it or anything, he's gone around giving it away, sneaking it into houses and businesses. As far as I know, he's somehow managed to avoid being caught, but the Ministry's on an intense search for him."

She knew what the packet said. It was Simm's very detailed report over what had happened to him during the attack, from the initial warning by a blond man, to the grisly end when everything was gone and he left. In it was a great bit about Harry himself. She had a good reason not the trust reporters, so she was inclined to dismiss the more shocking things in the article, but she wasn't so sure they were false or not. Granted, she inwardly hoped so, but the presence of the pictures seemed to prove her wrong. While the story itself was rather long, because of the details and quotes, the real reason it was so thick was because of the large amount of pictures. It was dated on the day of the attack, just over two weeks ago.

The picture on the front page was of one of those akuma creatures, which was also explained about in detail in the article, floating scarily close and readying it's guns before a blurred figure slid out from underneath it, jumping and turning while throwing a spell. The picture would be filled with bright white light before starting over. She had stared at it for a very long time. It was a very impressive, if not reckless, move.

She also hoped that the bit about a man dying in Harry's arms were not true. There was no picture to go with that bit, but there were quotes. Simms had claimed to have a photographic memory, but she thought he may have just embellished it a bit. Either way, such glorious news about the Boy-Who-Lived had had a large impact on the magical community, boosting people's confidence, and even more, their hope.

Harry slapped his forehead he turned the page, his face blushing just a little as his eyes skimmed over the compliments on his entrance.

"You've gotta be kidding me," He grumbled, "Everywhere I go..."

A few moments later, he flipped to the second to last page and stared at the picture of him, staring down at the hand pierced through his chest, followed by a picture underneath it of him exchanging a few short hits with Tyki Mikk, whose face was never revealed. It was the last picture in it, and the last page was pretty much just encouraging words to the magical community, which he was embarrassed to note that he'd been quoted about his hope statement.

"If you weren't famous before..." Lavi grinned in amusement, "I'm sure it was for the best. Maybe."

"What is it?" Allen asked curiously, "A photographer took pictures of Harry?"

Harry passed it over with a sigh,

"Sorry... do you mind if I hang on to it, so I can read it better, later?"

"You can keep it," Hermione replied hurriedly, "I don't need it, after all."

Harry nodded distractedly. He opened his mouth, perhaps to thank them, but then the infirmary doors burst open and in walked an older woman, followed by Komui. She took one look at Harry and scowled.

"And what do you think you're doing? Just because you feel fine does not mean you _are_ fine!" She hissed, "Get back into you're own bed, Mr. Potter, or I will force you."

Harry stood quickly, brushing by Hermione and Ron, and slipped into the bed across from Allen. He didn't bother laying down, instead just sitting on the edge.

"So, Harry, what's the news?" Komui asked, standing in the doorway, "Are you're friends staying?"

"If it's alright with you," The boy quickly replied, "I think they could help me, and Hermione mentioned she might have valuable information."

Komui watched the other for a moment before nodding,

"Certainly. Just be careful, Harry, and don't overwork yourself again. I'll come find you later with the arrangements."

Harry had the decency to look guilty before nodding. Komui slipped back out the door. The older woman then slipped to stand in front of him, and Hermione stepped up to the edge of the bad, feeling a little anxious. She felt Ron step up beside her, and she didn't miss the matron's frown.

"Alright, Mr. Potter. Off with the shirt."

Harry didn't think twice before he reached to the end of his large t-shirt and pulled it up over his head. The first thing that she noticed was the strange device attached to the other's right forearm, which held tightly to his wand. The second thing she noticed was the bandages covering her friend's chest and stomach. She grit her teeth as she watched Harry do as he was told, lifting his arms straight above his head,

"Any discomfort? Pinching, tightness?"

"Not really," He replied as she began to unwind the bandages. Seeing the Matron's stern glare, he amended, "I feel a little stiff, is all."

She nodded and continued. Underneath the bandages was nothing strange at all. She touched the boys ribs gently, and seeing him shake his head, pressed harder. She continued to do small tests carefully.

Meanwhile, both Hermione and Ron were aware that Harry had changed physically as well. He'd always been in shape, but now he had strong muscles, developed over the time he'd been there. His arms were the most noticable. Hermione looked away when he noticed her staring, feeling a little awkward and still concerned.

"Alright, Potter. Since Komui was rather insistent and you appear to have made a swift recovery, I will permit you to leave the infirmary. But if I catch you overworking yourself while you're still recovering again, you will regret it, understand me?"

He nodded happily, slipping off of his bed and grabbing the shirt. He slipped it back on, and then turned to Lavi.

"Where should I take the books? To the library?"

"I'm sure Yu wouldn't appreciate the mess," Lavi told him with a grin, "So I'll take care of it. Besides, I'm not going anywhere, and I still want to look through these books. They're pretty fascinating."

"Are you sure?" Harry's voice and face showed concern, "Do you want me to take the one's you've already read then?"

"No no, it's fine," The other waved a hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it. Go take a small break at least. You're lucky enough to get outta here before Allen and me, so be thankful."

"Oh, I am," Harry laughed, "Definitely. Thanks then. I'll come back. Do you want something I can get you? You too, Allen."

Allen looked up from the packet in faint surprise before smiling,

"I'm okay, thanks. They always bring me plenty of food, and there's nothing else to get for me. Here's the papers back."

Harry went over and took the packet back, and paused when the other smiled wider,

"I didn't get to see it very well for myself, but it looks like you held you're own really well. So well done."

He blushed and nodded, looking a bit more pleased than Hermione would've expected.

"I'm good too, so hurry up and get going, mm'k? Tell Yuu I said to visit sometime," Lavi waved, picking up a book.

"Will do," Harry waved back, "Then I'll see you later."

He turned back to Hermione and Ron and nodded,

"Come on. I'm hungry, how about you?"

Ron hesitantly nodded,

"Good. Despite his... eccentricities, Jerry's food is amazing," Harry grinned, walking toward the door, "You can order nearly anything at all that you want. I haven't been able to find a recipe he doesn't know, yet. Just let me stop by my room to change and leave this packet."

Hermione agreed readily, a bit excited to see the rest of the Order. She tried to press down on the butterflies.

Things hadn't gone as she'd wanted, but she had another chance. She'd take it with both hands, and she refused to let go.

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A/N: Hmm! I kinda like this chapter. About time, haha. Chapter 30... that's so surprising to me! Consider the extra length a gift to celebrate that. Extra Reviews would be even better (Hint hint, nudge nudge).

Hope everyone's happy with Hermione and Ron's return! As you can see, it's been two week since the last chapter, and Harry's had lots of time to think, plan, and figure things out. Just what he's figured out I can't say. He's changed a bit as well, as you can see. Well, best not to take the surface appearance as complete truth.

Review!


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Seems like I'm busier than ever lately. Like, I know I have a lot to do, but at the same time, it feels like I have more to do than I actually do. You know? But every things okay for TAFD for now, though. Anyways.

__--*--__

Harry tried to calm the emotions rolling through his stomach – a feat harder than he'd thought it would be, but then again, he wasn't exactly surprised. He'd been utterly shocked when he'd seen who was here to see him, but the shock didn't last as long as he expected. He had been hoping for a long time to see Hermione and Ron again, before that final battle that would come sooner or later.

On one hand, he was exhilarated to see them. Happy they were alive, relieved they were unharmed, and hopeful that they had come here to find him on their own, though also worried that someone else not on their side could do the same.

On the other hand, he wasn't... quite so happy. That betrayal had hurt after all, and he'd really come to like this place and the people in it. As great as it was to see them again, he also thought it wasn't such a great idea, except that Hermione might be extremely helpful to him.

They reached the room he shared with Kanda, or the room that Kanda shared with him, and he paused long enough to turn around and warn them to stay there. Kanda wouldn't ever permit them inside, and he knew that without having to ask. He hardly let anyone at all inside, after all.

Both of them had a slightly confused face, but he had another reason not to let them inside. He slipped into the room before they could speak.

The room was dark, since there were no windows and the light was off. He'd had plenty of practice maneuvering the room in the dark though, so after a moment, he moved toward where he knew his bed was. Nothing got in his way; Kanda kept his room clean, even if it was only because he wasn't in it much. Somewhere in the middle of the room, golden eyes open and regarded him through narrowed eyed suspicion. He paused just a moment to ask,

"Sorry if I woke you," He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, "How do you feel?"

There was the shifting of clothes and probably blankets,

"Hurry up and get what you came for," Kanda growled back, his voice a bit deeper and angrier than normal. The gold eyes faded into what Harry knew to be dark eyes, shadowed by the darkness.

"Will do," He mumbled, reaching his bed within a moment and finding the uniform he'd left out. He hesitated a moment before he went to the bathroom joined to the room, turning on the light only after the door was shut. He blinked away the slight pain in his eyes.

He knew that Kanda was just getting over the most recent full moon, having been set loose into the forest around the area. He didn't' know how it'd gone, but he did wonder if the other had still been aware of himself, like the last time.

He changed quickly, feeling a bit more comfortable in the uniform than the old clothes he'd been wearing in the infirmary. Afterwards, he turned out the light, walked back in the room, tossed the clothes onto his bed. He then sat down on the edge and began to feel around for his boots.

"By the way, Lavi told me to tell you to visit sometime," He mentioned, finding one of the boots and began slipping it on.

"Che. He should know better," Came the snarky remark. He chuckled slightly before the other continued, "Who is here with you?"

"...It's Hermione and Ron. They came to seek me out to offer their help again," He knew the silence was not a good one, and he added, "I can't really say no, when they're the only ones who understand half of what I say about magic. Speaking of which, I just got out of the infirmary, so I'm heading to the cafeteria. Want to come? Or at least, do you want me to bring something back for you?"

He found the other boot and slipped that one on as well. He waited quietly for a response. He really did feel concerned for the other. The exorcist had holed himself in his room, which was both understandable and not unusual, but he needed to eat sometime.

"...I'll go later."

He shrugged,

"Suit yourself. But if you don't, don't forget I'll tell Lenalee or Komui. I know they've been trying to get you to come out lately."

He left, ignoring the sound of annoyance behind him. Hermione and Ron were still standing where he left them, looking minutely relieved, which changed into surprise.

"Come on, it's this way," He pointed down the hall that he began to lead them down, and ignored their stare. The walk was distinctly uncomfortable, but he had practice at ignoring these things too.

When they arrived, he watched their eyes widen in appreciation, and then he led them up to the window. Almost immediately, Jerry appeared,

"Ah! Well, if it isn't our resident magic-maker! How're you feelin'?"

"Very good, now that I'm out of the infirmary," He replied with a wry smile, "I don't suppose you had something to do with them dragging me in in the first place, would you?"

The cook shrugged noncommittally,

"Well, it was a bit worrisome, you know, what with you wobbling about and doing nothing but reading and seeing that Bak character when you should've been resting. But I didn't tattle, if that's what you want to know. Komui just happened to ask at the right time."

"Is that right?" He asked dryly.

"It sure is!" Jerry exclaimed cheerfully before leaning out the window area, "Now who're your cute friends there? Hungry I bet! What'll you be having?"

Ron looked rather unbalanced, while Hermione blinked rapidly before unsteadily gathering herself again. Harry was faintly amused, but he gave then a chance by order first. He could tell the other two were very hopeful as they tentatively gave their order, no doubt tired of scrounging for food,

"Comin' right up!" Jerry disappeared again, and they moved aside slightly to wait for their order.

It came quickly, and he led the way toward a somewhat empty area, wondering if it was the best of idea's. He waved toward a familiar Finder, whom he'd met a while back, and then slid into the bench. The other two followed his example wearily.

"You do know that the table's not going to devour you, right?" He smirked slightly at their embarrassed expressions, "If I wanted to get rid of you _that_ badly, then I would've told you to leave in the first place."

It did not seem to comfort them, but that was alright. It hadn't been his intention anyway.

"So..." Hermione pushed her food around a little while Ron dug into his, "Who's 'Bak', that the cook mentioned...?"

"He's the leader of the China branch of the Order," Harry replied.

"So there's other branches?" Hermione asked curiously.

"That is what I just said."

She flushed and took a bite of her food to hide both her embarrassment and her nervousness.

"He's actually something I wanted to talk to you a little about, Hermione," he continued undisturbed, "Bak is the closest thing to a wizard as there is around here. He doesn't really know magic exactly, but he probably could learn if he wanted. His base is based on Blood Magic – it's what I wanted to learn something about."

"Blood Magic?!" She sputtered, "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, that part's secret," He admitted. He knew the gravity of the situation, by he didn't want to tell them about it, even though he could tell they weren't at all happy about it, "In order to... create a few theories, I learned a little about it. It's extremely complicated. I think you'd get a kick outta learning it."

He pulled the small statue out of his pocket and set it on the table. It was just a stone bird, still and normal. As he ate, he added,

"I used this as my experiment. With a little blood, I can make it come to life. But it's lifespan is really short, because the magic I used wasn't much and I still don't hardly understand how it works."

"But did you find out what you wanted?" Ron asked, eying the statue.

"I think so," Harry thoughtfully watched it for a moment as well before putting it back in his pocket, "I would like to learn more about it, but it confirmed what I wanted to know. Maybe later."

His female friend opened her mouth, to question, probably. But then a tray was set down to his left, on his free side, and Lenalee sat down,

"Hello Harry. I see you were let out. Try to stay out of there this time, right?" She teased him, and he sighed softly.

"Yes okay, I've got the message. Have you visited Allen, Lavi, and Link yet?"

"Not yet, no," She picked up her fork, "After I eat. Brother insisted I take a break since my rounds took longer than I thought it would. What are you planning to do today?"

"Not entirely sure yet. Probably trade some information with Ron and Hermione... Have you met, by the way?"

"We have," Lenalee smiled toward the two visitors anyway, and an understanding passed between them that made Harry intensely curious, "It's nice to see you getting along though."

"Oh. Well, what about you?"

"I have a mission that I'm leaving for when I'm done visiting the others. It seems like a short one. I should be back in a day or two."

He nodded slightly, taking a drink of water, and then saying,

"Well then, good luck. Come back safe."

"Thank you," She gave him a dazzling smile that he had to admit was a bit distracting, "Oh hey, there's Krory!"

She stood and waved toward the door, where a tall exorcist was standing, looking around in uncertainty. Relief passed their features, and then they quickly moved over to where they sat.

"You're finally healed?" Lenalee asked excitedly, "That's great!"

"Yes," Krory nodded, "It's good to be up again. I've gotten lost a few times getting here though... Oh, and hello again, Harry."

"Nice to see you again," Harry greeted with a grin. He'd met the other almost immediately back from that disaster of an idea of going to Godric's Hollow. They'd been next to each other in the infirmary, and they'd talked a lot the first few days. Frankly, Krory had been fascinated with his magic. Despite their age difference, they got along well.

"It takes some getting use to," Lenalee smiled wider and sat down again, "But what am I saying? You lived in a mansion before you ever came here, right?"

Krory gave a brief nod.

Harry noticed Hermione and Ron sitting closely together, looking out of place. If they had dog ears, they would probably be laid flat backwards, and he sighed softly.

"Friends of yours, perhaps?" The vampire-like man asked, noticing his stare.

"These are Ron, and Hermione," He introduced, motioning toward them as they looked up, "they're wizards, like me. Well, Hermione's a witch, but you know what I mean."

The other nodded interestedly, shifting over a little,

"Is that so? I find your magic so interesting," He admitted to them.

Meanwhile, Harry glanced around slightly,

"I haven't seen Timothy around lately," He mentioned to Lenalee, who looked up from her food in slight surprise, before she swallowed and answered.

"I believe he was sent to tag along with General Cloud, for his first trial mission. He's still a ways from going on missions on his own, but I'm sure he's fine."

He hummed softly. He'd gotten to know the younger boy a bit better as well over his time restrained to a bed. The boy was almost obsessed with Harry's magic, though he tried not to show it. Either way, Harry found himself glad that at least he could count himself better than one exorcist, even though that one was still such a child.

He finished eating while talking to both Lenalee and Krory. He noticed that Hermione didn't quite finish her food, and even Ron seemed a little put off. He decided not to say anything. It was obvious they were feeling out of place, and very guilty.

He said his goodbyes to the exorcists, put his tray away, and then he began to led the way to the library. The other two followed obediently, and that was almost off-putting. It was amusing, however, watching Hermione's eyes shine with wonder when she walked into the library, filled with books as it was. Many didn't even sit on a shelf, instead stacked in piles.

"Just a word of warning – be very careful in here," He warned when Ron almost tripped over a sneaky pile, "It's technically the Order's library, but Bookman is in here a lot, and he'll throw a fit if you mess everything up, or damage a book."

"There's so many.... What's it all on? I mean..." Hermione struggled for words.

"Lot's of things," He shrugged, "All kinds of things. I've found amazing accounts on wars of all kinds. I've found hints of things connected to the magical community. Once, I came across a book that mentioned a Threstral, though the author didn't know that's what it was."

She murmured her amazement as she moved further in the room, looking around and appearing to want to dive right in.

"Maybe you'll get a chance to look later," He interrupted before she could get too side tracked, "Right now, though, I want you to tell me about the information you said you have. I've collected some of my own, but what do you have?"

He motioned them to sit on the couch, which they did uncomfortably. He sat in his favorite recliner, shifting the paper there to the side. The witch had to move a couple books as well, and frowned when she caught sight of the book, 'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.' He all but snatched it away. That book was also something he'd gotten around to reading. Nothing in it had ever helped his mood, if anything, it had done the opposite.

"Well..." She traded a glance with Ron, sitting back, "At first... At first I wanted nothing more to research the 'Noah' and the exorcists and things like that."

Harry frowned and glared a little. He couldn't say he blamed her – She had seemed to almost fear the exorcists those last weeks before they'd left. However, he still didn't appreciate it.

"I couldn't find anything. The closest I came to was magical anomalies that might or might not have had something to do with Innocence. But I did find one story... Well, actually, Ron found it."

"On accident," Ron mumbled, looking away.

"That's nice," Harry replied shortly, "But that doesn't have anything to do with-"

"No, Harry, listen," She sat forward, suddenly insistent, "It's short and old. It was an account about how a young man fell ill. Around him, strange things began to happen, and he began to fear for his life when he started to feel intense pain in his head. He went to a muggle hospital, but they couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then... then he started to bleed, out of these strange crosses on his head... And a witch heard and had him transferred to another hospital where witches and wizards could look at him in a magical environment."

"And...?" He asked impatiently, watching her bite her lip.

"And several days later... something happened. Nobody knows what, but everyone in the hospital was found dead, and the man missing. There was one man, the one who reported it, who claimed to have seen another man with gold eyes and black skin, but he ran away."

"Hermione," He started with a shake of the head, "As interesting as that is, and as strange as it is that you found something like that at all, how is that helpful in any way?"

"Because, Harry, I worry for you," She touched her arm, "You didn't see it, but I did. Allen... I don't know what he is, but he seems... wrong, to me, some how."

"And what would you like me to do about that?" He snapped, ignoring Ron's stare, "I know that you were scared of him before you... _left_," She flinched, he ignored that too, "But I'm not leaving here. I don't know what you want me to say. Allen has been nothing but good to me – _all_ of them has been nothing but helpful and kind to me."

"I'm just _worried_," She replied softly, looking upset, "What if just snaps one day, like the man probably did? You already have the world on your shoulders, Harry, you shouldn't have to deal with their problems too."

In all honestly, he was a bit shocked she was being so callous to their war, but at the same time, that too was understandable.

"I'm _not_," He insisted a little angrily, "How would you even know what I've been doing, helping them or otherwise? If you've forgotten, you kind of left me behind, remember? You haven't been around to know."

"That's not fair!" Ron suddenly sat up straight, "She's just been worried about you! Is that a crime now? Or do you trust these people _that much_? After all, you seemed to favor them even back then."

Harry blinked. He was so surprised, he'd almost forgotten to be angry.

"What're you talking about?"

"You think we never noticed?" Ron continued, ignoring Hermione's desperate attempt to get his attention, "Even back before, when we were still in the old HQ, you always disappeared with them, or sat next to them, or joked around under your bloody breath with them."

"I did that because you were being a prat," Harry replied almost calmly, "And Hermione was busy ignoring me or sending looks at them."

"It made us feel like you were leaving us behind!" Ron bellowed suddenly, standing up, "Like suddenly we weren't good enough for you anymore! It made it seem like you _did_ have a plan, but you refused to tell it to us. Or that you didn't, because you really didn't have one, but that you trusted them more than us to help you! It made us angry, and we ended up leaving you behind so you wouldn't leave _us_ behind!"

Harry blinked again. He was, admittedly, taken by surprise. If anything, this wasn't how he'd expected them to feel. He looked to Hermione for conformation, and she'd given up on stopping him. Instead, she looked at him bravely, though her eyes were a little bright,

"It hurt," She confided quietly.

Silence reigned as Ron got his breath back, and he tried to get his thoughts and feelings in order.

"...It felt the same to me," He finally said, "Like you were turning away from me, so I started turning away from you. When you left, I figured it was the last time I'd see you again. And so I decided it was for the best."

"A lot of the things you said were true. And it made me feel like I wasn't cut out for this," He looked at them. He knew that if he wanted to repair their friendship to the closest thing to fixed, he would have to be completely honest right now, "I was left alone with Lavi, Allen, and Kanda. And I found out that we're more similar than I could've guessed. And I had fun with them. They have saved my life many times, and the training I have gotten has saved my life just as many times. I owe them more than I can repay. And they've become friends to me. They've all been very good to me, and I'm sorry things turned out the way they did. But I'm not going to leave them either."

"So... What does that mean?" Hermione questions carefully. Ron sat back down, a guarded expression on his face.

"It means I'm glad you're here," Harry nodded, "It means that I'm glad _I'm_ here. It means that they're important to me, but so are you."

"So... So, friends again?" She offered.

"Only if you agree to be more open minded and careful," He stared at her, "But there are still some things that you can't really understand about what happened here."

"Why not?" Ron demanded, "How wouldn't we?"

"Ron," Harry switched his stare patiently, "I had a man die in my arms. A man with children and a pregnant wife waiting for him at home. I've come a hairs width away from facing Vo-"

"Don't say his name!" Ron interrupted, though he looked pale.

"I've had a hand stuck through my chest, as you saw, and I've fought for my life several times. And when I say 'fought for my life', that usually means with my fists, and not with my wand."

Both looked pale, guilty, and a little upset, so he sighed,

"So please. No pretending. And what's wrong with saying Vol-"

"Don't!" Both of them exclaimed this time, and he blinked in bewilderment.

"The name has a charm on it," Ron explained, "The ministry did it. Whenever someone says His name, they can track that person down. It's how they tracked us down before, remember?"

"And since I'm the main person who says it..." Harry came to understand within those few seconds, "Oh. I see."

He tried to remember for a moment if he'd used the name since they left, but he couldn't recall.

"Okay. Well then, anything else I should know about?"

As the other two looked at each other thoughtfully, he tilted his head and listened. He'd thought he heard a strange sound from outside the door.

"Well, apparently the Gryffindor Sword has gone missing," Ron volunteered, "We heard it from Ginny, who mentioned it in her letter to Bill. One of the students supposedly created a duplicate and hid the original or something."

"Speaking of Ginny," Harry's attention sharply turned back to the conversation, "Hermione, I don't suppose you came across a man and followed him, did you? A man you shouldn't have?"

When her face flushed, he scowled and leaned forward,

"Who was it?" He demanded.

"I... I didn't really know, at first," She started nervously, "He just looked suspicious, and I thought I could follow him and he wouldn't notice, because I had an invisibility cloak that belonged to Bill."

"When was this?!" Ron exclaimed.

"It was when you were in the room, when you wouldn't come out," She replied, "I thought I saw something in the forest when I'd gone outside, and so I followed. I didn't know it was a Noah until he turned around and said I wasn't fooling anybody."

"What happened?" Harry demanded again before Ron could, "Did he do anything to you?"

"No," She shook her head, "That was the strange part. I had refused to come out, and I stayed very still, but he seemed to know right where I was. I moved faster than I could see, tore the cloak away. He mentioned spying was bad manners. He made a few offhand comments that I knew was linked to you and... I demanded to know where you were. He seemed amused, said that he'd answer if only because I had come so far."

"And...?" Ron growled, "What'd he say?!"

"He said that Harry was further away than I could hope to reach. He said that I should give up, and that if I didn't, then he would have to force me. He didn't though, because he left almost right after, and he left the cloak behind."

"He was probably talking about in the future," Harry explained in annoyance, "Because he guessed you'd find me, and that I'd see him again and you'd be there, so he'd have to get rid of you too."

"Right," She nodded queasily.

"Why didn't you tell me about that?" Ron asked, "You didn't mention it at all."

"I was scared," She admitted, "And it seemed like he'd warned me not to say anything. He knew where we were, after all, and he'd on the other side, right? I thought somehow he'd know and attack if I said anything."

"Even though it wasn't particularly useful information," Harry mused. He frowned again when he once again heard a distant noise.

"How did you know?" She wondered.

"He told me," Harry replied simply, "His name is Tyki. I saw him in the train station we went to after you left, though I didn't know it at the time. At that last attack, he was the one I fought, the one the pictures were of, though from what I saw, you couldn't see his face in any of them."

"I didn't notice," She murmured.

"It's been bothering me, but does anyone else hear that?" He finally asked, looking toward the door. They both turned and looked as well, going silent to listen. After a moment, there was a crash that sounded a ways away.

"I heard it," Ron confirmed.

"What is it? Do you think every thing's alright?" Hermione worried.

"I don't know. It's not strange to hear things," He stood up and started for the door, "Every once in a while the Science Division will do something crazy. I'm going to go take a look."

"We're coming too!"

He followed the noise, and it quickly became apparent that it was accompanied by shouts. The crashing grew louder the closer to the cafeteria that he got. Curious, he finally arrived, and he walked into the doorway, only to duck underneath a flying pan.

Inside was what appeared to be a robot of some kind. It's 'face' had a resemblance to Komui, but that was about all it had a resemblance to. He blinked as it caused chaos inside. There were Finders who were ducking for cover behind overturned tables, and he thought he saw Komui hiding behind a pillar.

He couldn't help laugh when the robot moved to the side and revealed a terrified Finder, his face covered by an assortment of signs and markings in permanent marker. The sound drew the robot's attention, and it started for him. Ron stared at the large thing,

"Uh.... Uh-oh..."

__--*--__

A/N: I couldn't really think of a way to end that very well. This chapter seemed to drag on forever to me D: Well, at least they've made up, for the most part. Some information in this chapter, and probably another plan in the next. If you've read the book, you might expect it.

Reviews, please. They're almost as good as getting paid to write this. Almost.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Terribly sorry about last week.

__--*--__

Harry frowned in concentration, ducking a high kick and then hoping over a leg sweep that would have ended the practice session immediately. He barely got his footing in order to push aside the next punch with his wrist. He ignored the dull pain in his wrist from the force – exorcists are always stronger than they look, and very solid as well.

He went for a knife hand against his opponents ribs – something similar to a chop, which was the martial arts move he'd known the best before he started learning it himself. It was very popular in the movies, and it had been Dudley's favorite move to practice on him, at one point. He didn't expect it to land, so he was already shifting just enough, so that when his opponent slapped his hand away, he was already using his other one to aim for a shot at the base of the other's neck. He hadn't really expected that to land either, and it didn't.

He didn't pay much attention, if any at all, to anything but the spar; This was a developing Bad Habit of his, which Marie had noticed early on and started trying to fix before it became a serious problem. However, in his defense, his current opponent, Kanda, needed all his attention in order to not be beaten horribly in the initial few moves. The other moved extremely fast, forcing Harry not to think about every move he made, but to instead get use to the speed in order to react in any way he could to avoid being hit. It was hard, but distantly, he thought it was also fun; As long as he wasn't getting beaten too badly. It was times like this, when he'd been going over five minutes straight, that he felt particularly good about it. Granted, Kanda wasn't exactly being serious, but he wasn't making it anywhere near easy either.

He heard the sound of the door opening, but it was something he heard and didn't really register hearing. He shifted his weight to his other leg when he realized he couldn't dodge the low kick, and let it hit the back of his knee, before a feeling of daring hit him. He had learned a lot of different moves, but many of them he knew he couldn't use in spars because he couldn't string them together. Jumping kicks were one of these, but in his position, he thought he saw a perfect opportunity.

His jumping roundhouse was not perfectly executed, but it was a surprise move, and he landed a solid hit against the other's hip, and he swallowed his pride instead of pausing to revel in it. He had learned not to linger, particularly when he actually landed a hit. Unfortunately, he didn't move quick enough, and a strong arm clamped his leg to the swordsman's side. Kanda's foot slid out, hitting the inside of his own, and he felt himself falling as his remaining leg was knocked out from under him. He caught himself with his arms (The landing part was something that had been drilled into him many times, from many angles and heights. He was thankful for this, since it happened so much).

Feeling a little desperate in knowing that he was either going to be thrown of pinned – both of which hurt quite a bit, particularly being pinned – he tried to shift with his hands and kick out with his other foot. It was still a desperate move, and he knew Kanda could've blocked it or knocked it aside, but the other let go of his foot instead, much to his surprise. He wasted no time dodging the crescent kick – where the other's leg was brought upwards before being brought down in a specific way – and rolling to his feet with a back hand.

Kanda, on the other hand, was subtly impressed with the boys daring today, and wasn't ready for the match the end. He was curious to see what else the other would pull out of nowhere. He'd been improving quite well ever since training began in the first place. Ever since everyone had returned from that Godric's place, Harry had been determined like he hadn't been before.

When the boy started being unhealthy in his research and training to the point of exhaustion, Kanda'd been annoyed, because he knew that it was rather stupid. But after Harry had been released from the infirmary about a week ago, and subsequently his friends had arrived, he'd seemed to learn his lesson and had turned his determination the right way.

It might have been due to the spell the girl had come up with earlier on that was the cause of the more recent improvement, but he didn't much care. After all, he had someone to pound on that he was actively _encouraged_ to, though he couldn't go full out.

Harry's eyes widened as he barely dodged out of the way of a black eye, feeling the wind rush by and skin brush by his hair. He found the speed just slightly increased, and he found himself suddenly doing all he could just to stay out of harms way. There was hardly room to even attempt a counter attack, and he really had no time to think. Then he remembered a piece of advice Allen had given him during a match – be patient. That is, if there's no time or room to react, then he had to wait until there was. Don't get impatient and try to force an opening or doing anything risky. He couldn't afford to when his opponent was so much better than him.

The problem with this was that he might not even recognize an opening. That, and one of the advantages to that advice was that the opponent would start wearing down. Exorcists and Noah, on the other hand, would be going still, long after he'd gotten too tired to continue.

The match ended when he found himself pinned, just as he hadn't wanted to. Being thrown was better because he had a better chance at reacting or getting himself back together. He scowled as his head was shoved into the padded ground, Kanda's shin pressing onto his inner knees in order to keep his legs down. His arms were restrained, pressed harshly against his lower back, and the other's up half keeping him down. A few moments of silence passed, just to make sure the match was over, and then the heavy and painful weight lessened against his knees. Instead of drawing away completely though, he heard Kanda say,

"This hold isn't much, if it could be called one at all, but how would you get out of it?"

Harry frowned again, resting his forehead against the ground. This was a comment thing. At the end of a match, if he was in a hold, his partner would teach him how to get out of that hold, or use one they'd use before to see if he remembered. This one he hadn't encountered before, but he though for a moment. Then he shifted his hands, and rotated and pulled in the direction of the other's thumbs, the weakest part of a hand hold. He didn't break free, but he was mostly just making his point anyway.

He paid attention as he was instructed how to get out, though in all honesty, if the one holding his were particularly large or more powerful than he was, then would have a hard time of it.

Then he sat up with a sigh, rubbing his wrists and tilting his neck until it cracked. He blinked when he heard soft, singular clapping, and he looked to the door, where Allen grinned at him behind Hermione and Ron.

Harry blushed, partly from the clapping, and partly because he knew it was the first time either of his newly forgiven friends had seen him training. He hadn't been very eager for them to see, considering the fact that wizards tended to think such a thing unnecessary and vulgar, and he didn't want Hermione catching on and really _knowing_ what he used it for.

"I'm impressed," Allen moved around the other two and knelt down at Harry's side, "You did really well against Kanda. I wish I would've seen the whole thing."

"Thanks," He mumbled in return, "I hope I can do as well when I need to."

"I'm believe you will. Give yourself some credit. Just," The other nodded slightly, patting his shoulder, "Remember the plan."

The Plan was as it always was. Do what he had to and call attention to one of the exorcists when he got in trouble. In other words – don't get over-confident or anything.

"Was there a reason you're here, or not?" Kanda asked bordly, hiding the snap underneath, "You're in the way."

"Now now, _Ba_Kanda," Allen's eyes narrowed, "I know it's hard for you to learn manners, being a rude, depraved being, but certainly you could put a little more effort into it?"

"I would rather have no manners than look like an old man, bean sprout."

"Yes, because looking like a woman is so much better?"

Harry covered his mouth to hide his smirk, pretending to cough slightly instead. He stood and inched away. He knew better than to stick around when the arguments between these two got serious.

"I'll cut you," Kanda snarled, taking a step back and reaching for his conveniently placed Mugan, leaning against a pillar. He grabbed it, making a show of drawing it with an angry expression.

"I guess trainings over for now," Harry mused as he inched closer to the door, "Oh well, what can you do? I'll just... go over there."

Nobody answered him, or seemed to even notice, so he safely made it to where Hermione and Ron stood. He barely paid attention to the insult fair going on between the other two, instead looking to the other two and tilting his head to the side.

"Something wrong?"

Ron's slightly-paler-than-normal face quickly returned to normal as he shook his head, his face awed. Hermione was similarly impressed, but mostly concerned.

"You do this everyday?" Ron wondered, eyes distant.

"Pretty much," Harry answered, trying ot sound nonchalant, "Don't worry about it. Did you come here looking for me?"

"It's where Allen said you'd be," Hermione replied with deliberate slowness, "And he came along to see how you were doing. I didn't think you wanted a concentration charm for something like _this_ though."

Harry shrugged, not having anything to say to that. He'd asked if Hermione knew any because he wanted to remember the spars for clearly in order to learn from them better. He could already feel the last of the charm wearing off anyways. It only lasted for a short time.

"I'm getting kinda hungry, have you eaten yet?" He asked instead.

"Well yeah, a little while ago," Ron answered with a frown, "Didn't you?"

"When's the last time you ate? I hope recently, dinner was awhile ago," Hermione scolded.

"Well, it's just, I prefer to keep my food _inside_ my stomach, see?" Harry grinned slightly, feeling a little gratified that he knew something intellectually that his smart friend did not. He'd only ever come close to throwing up his food once, and that had been quite a while ago, when he first came to the Order, but that had been rather enough for him.

Hermione blushed and adopted one of her annoyed expressions, though this one was directed toward herself.

"Right," She replied in a clipped tone, "Fine. We'll go with you to get a late dinner, and we can talk about the plan."

He agreed, though he didn't know why it was necessary to go over the plan yet again. They left the exorcists, who had already escalated into a full blown fight, behind in the training room. He had to assure Ron that neither would get seriously hurt, and calm Hermione, who thought they were being very childish.

Of which, she discovered that many people here tended to be, like Komui and his robots.

That had been a funny fiasco, when they'd come across the 'Komurin' in the cafeteria. He'd not been so amused until he discovered that the robot was not dead set on killing everyone, and more interested on drawing on everyone's face in permanent marker. He'd heard tales from Lavi and Allen of course, even back before he'd come to the Black Order, and the almost unbelievable stories became very much believable then. Hermione and Ron hadn't been quite as amused, though Ron had lightened up after it was over, courtesy of Lenalee (Ron, and Hermione though she didn't admit it, had been very much impressed at the ease of which the exorcist kicked the huge ton of metal around). Hermione, however, had not though it funny at all. She thought it was amazingly stupid, and that had lost some respect for Komui, followed by a large portion when she discovered the man did those kinds of things very often.

Since then, she seemed very aware that everyone seemed to be much less serious than they should be, while Ron didn't have much of an opinion – though he secretly thought they were very cool. He'd already secured a small, defective golem to give to his father, if he got the chance. The golem wasn't good for much, as it had been injured in a battle, and now was too slow a flier, damaged memory banks, and its communication system was grainy and didn't work as far as it should. Not to mention that catching signals was a hit or miss thing.

Harry got for himself a nice breakfast, balanced thanks to Jerry who had insisted upon learning he was being trained. He usually didn't even request much, instead letting the cook chose for him, because the food was so good that he didn't mind much what he got, unless he had a particular craving.

Ron also got an apple as they went ahead to sit down. Hermione made a passing comment about being spoiled, looking pointedly at Ron's peeled and cut apple, but there was no response. Personally, Harry thought it was an unfair comment. These people deserve to be spoiled in whatever way possible, since they all had a shorter lifespan than normal people, some in particular.

They discussed the plan, though it was mostly Hermione repeating it and the other two nodding along.

The plan wasn't hard. They had shared a lot of information over the last week. They had shared ideas, though the ideas being shared were mostly Komui's. They had discussed Dumbledore's book, which Harry found he was becoming a bit touchy about, finding that he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.

Dumbledore had been very important to him, but it seemed like the more he learned about the other, the more he learned that he maybe should have known already, he felt his opinions and trust failing.

It didn't help when Hermione began collecting clues to a certain symbol, which had shown up a few different places. The first time was when Luna's father had worn it at the wedding, and when Krum had argued it's meaning. Then Hermione found it in the children's book Dumbledore had left her, and of course that seemed a little suspicious. Particularly since the symbol had been _drawn_ in, instead of printed, and why else would Dumbledore give the book to her if not to give a clue or _something_ of use?

Granted there was a lot of stuff in the book "The Life and lies of Albus Dumbledore," about the old Headmaster having been quite close to none other than Grindelwald. And then Hermione had seen that a letter reprinted in that book, addressed to Grindelwald and from Dumbledore, that Albus had signed his name at the bottom, but replaced the A in Albus with the same symbol, and that was what made up her mind that it was important.

They had decided to go and visit Xenophilius Lovegood today, having planned this two days ago exactly, and find out what the symbol really stood for. Ron had been insistent that it would be alright, since _The Quibbler_ had been supporting Harry all this time, but he wasn't convinced. He'd thought Godric's Hollow would be easy and safe too, and he wasn't taking any chances.

After they did that, they would come back here and discuss the information, but Harry was really more interested in looking for the Horcruxes, researching the possibility that one might be in the possession of one of the Death Eater's inner circle.

It was when Hermione was going over the finer details of the plan that Harry couldn't help feel glad when Allen appeared, interrupting unintentionally. Hermione was annoyed, and perhaps put off that he was even slightly relieved, but he couldn't much help it. As curious about the symbol and his soon-to-be trip, he still could get tired of hearing the same things over and over.

"Are you about ready?" Allen asked as he sat down, "I wish I had time for a quick snack."

"Your 'quick snack's' aren't very quick," Harry replied with a smile, "Where's Kanda?"

"How would I know?" The other asked with the slight frown, "That guys wanders off alone so often... It's a wonder he hasn't turned into another Cross. As in not coming back for a few years."

He chuckled as he finished, and then chatted with the white haired boy as they led the way to Komui's office, where they sat and waited, being a little early.

In that time, Harry kept a careful eye on Hermione and Ron, noticing that both were nervous, even though they were also determined. He tried talking to them to make them forget for a while, and Allen seemed to catch on pretty quickly. He sent a quick grateful look, and the other just flashed a smile.

He hadn't actually wanted Hermione or Ron to come, but he knew it was important. The part that didn't want them to come was the part that was dead set against them getting hurt, and it kind of annoyed him that he felt he had enough options that he could think that way.

Komui arrived a few minutes later, and they waited until Kanda and Lavi appeared a short time afterwards. They didn't go over the exact plan other than a quick reminder of the basics in hopes that would jog the memory of the smaller details, and then they were sent on their way.

'On their way' was apparating, and side along apparating, to the area around The Burrow, far enough away not to be caught, but close enough that Ron knew where they were immediately.

"I don't know where they live, exactly, but I know the direction it's in and that it's not too far," The red head announced, "It's this way."

He took the lead while his friends fell into step behind him and the exorcists faded into the darkness around him, as planned. They would create some distance; Enough to keep track of things in a nice radius and still be aware of Harry and the others.

It was quite dark, and the many trees made it seem darker. Harry wasn't very unnerved, but he thought Ron's shoulders were hunched a little too much and that Hermione was acting a little too jumpy. He felt irreparably fond of them in that moment, and he didn't know where it came from.

They walked as quietly as they could. They walked with as little light as they could, Harry's wand tip glowing dimly, just enough to see their feet and the forest directly around them. They had been going for roughly ten minutes when there came a distant glow in the trees ahead. He was the first to notice, and he quit the Lumos spell immediately, wincing when the sudden darkness teased a short shriek from Hermione and Ron promptly tripped when he could no longer see the ice patches ahead of him.

"Har-"

"Shh!" He hissed softly, though he thought that it was rather useless to attempt silence now. Thankfully, Hermione did go silent, and Ron didn't even attempt to stand from the snow. After a moment, the distant glow flared and started to glow brighter and larger, and a moment later Harry realized it was because it was a patronus and it was headed this way.

He heard Hermione's quick breathing hitch as it came closer and closer, until he could make out that it was a doe, standing calmly between the barren trees. The warmth washed over them, and he waited with bated breath. He couldn't recall anyone in the Order of the Phoenix with a doe patronus, or anyone at all, really. But looking at it gave him as intense familiarity, as if he should know, as if he knew it very, very well.

The doe bowed it's head and moved its foreleg, pawing at the ground, before turning and starting to walk away. There was a general silence before Ron murmured quietly,

"I'm getting snow in uncomfortable places, can I get up now?"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed before addressing Harry, "I think it wants us to follow... do we?"

After a moment, Harry bent down and hauled Ron to his feet, and then started to follow without a word. He couldn't shake the feeling that the magic gave him, and if it was caused by a spell, then it wasn't a natural one to the patronus. He wanted to know what it wanted.

It didn't lead them very far from the direction they'd already been going. He knew the exorcists had noticed something wrong when he saw a shadow flit in and out of his vision from his right, followed then by something similar to his left, and both presences were familiar and welcome.

The light from the doe was plenty to see and walk by, and after a moment they stopped in a small clearing. It stopped completely at the base of a very tall tree with large branches, and it seemed to stare at him, waiting. He took a step forward, cautiously, one hand at the ready to release his wand, but not doing so yet in case he needed that hand free first. He took another step, then another, and then the doe backed away. He held up his hands, as if in surrender, and the doe promptly looked straight up, as if something in the sky was more worthy of it's attention. He didn't take his eyes away, but cursed aloud when it suddenly began to dissipate completely. When it was gone and they were in silence, he heard none other than Allen ask,

"What was that?"

"That was a patronus," Hermione answered in confusion, "It's a spell you create by using your happiest memories. It's important to use against some dark spells... but what was it doing here, and who cast it?"

"And what did it want to do?" Ron added, "It was like it was leading us somewhere, but there's nothing here."

As if to prove his point, he toed the ground and kicked snow aside, revealing nothing but frozen dirt.

"I think... it was talking about that," Harry announced loudly, pointing upwards, drawing their attention. Up above, metal glinted at the very top of the tree, and the moon behind it made it hard to see. But one thing was clear – there was something sticking out of the tree, made of metal, and Harry's heart leaping as he imagined what it could be.

"Did you see anybody?" Allen asked with a frown, "I didn't."

"Neither did I," Lavi agreed, his voice present but his face was not, "Yu didn't either."

"I didn't," Hermione added, "But there must've been somebody nearby. There had to have been."

"I might've seen a dark shape," Allen continued, "But it disappeared almost immediately. It's gone now, either way."

Harry tried an Accio spell, but it didn't work, as expected. He sighed softly, touching the tree and then announcing,

"I guess I have to climb it then."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Allen asked, seemingly genuinely worried for him, "The branches are covered in snow and ice."

"Spells won't work, and if that's what I think it is, It's very important I get it down. Don't worry, it won't take long, and then we can hurry up and go to the Lovegood's."

Harry looked the tree over before he jumped and got a good hold on the lowest branch, swinging his legs up to another and hauling himself up. After a thought, he placed a warming charm on his hands and feet the moment he had a strong footing, and continued.

It was a tall tree, so it did take several minutes, but eventually he found himself as high as he could go, and eyed what was, indeed, the Sword of Gryffindor. The blade was stuck very firmly in the bark, and to make matters worse, the part of the blade stuck into the tree was frozen there completely. As it was, he had to stand very carefully because the tops of the trees were the most frozen, and he didn't think he could pull the blade out even if the sword wasn't frozen, not when it was so hard just to stand.

"How does it look?!" Ron yelled up to him. Harry was very careful not to look down as he replied,

"It's frozen in and stuck in the tree pretty deeply. I don't think I can get it out!"

He heard a low voice that he could barely make out speaking at all, followed by Allen snarling something toward Kanda, who no doubt had said something insulting.

After another thought, he drew his wand and threw a severing curse at the tree just under the sword. It did break as he had hoped, but it caused the whole tree to shake, sliding the portion off. He grabbed the hilt as quickly as he could, fearing it would fall and somehow get damaged, and suddenly found himself without a branch under his feet.

Startled, he reached for the next branch as he fell, but his fingers easily slipped off and he continued to fall. His heart pounding, he opened his mouth to speak a spell that would halt his fall, but suddenly found it stopped already. He blinked as he was lowered gently down to the snowy ground, where he faced several frowns.

"Uh.. .I got the sword?" He held it in front of him, noticing that the ice was mysteriously gone, and Ron, who had his wand out and was probably the one who stopped his fall, snapped,

"I thought you were more careful now? You could have gotten seriously hurt!"

"Well, it hasn't been _that_ long," Harry mumbled, placing a foot on the tree branch and pulling hard on the sword's hilt. It came free after several tugs, and he carefully wiped his sleeve along the blade.

"He's right!" Hermione exclaimed, "That was extremely reckless!"

"Well, it's not like I would've been hurt," He waved his wand in the air with a vaguely amused smile, "I had in under control. Mostly."

"_Mostly?!_" Hermione hissed.

Harry grinned a little wider and shrugged. It was nice to have his friends back and worrying about him.

"This is something really important, didn't you say?" Allen asked, politely interrupting once again, "What does it do?"

"There's very few things that can destroy a Horcrux," Harry replied, opening his jacket just enough to pull of the small bag he'd gotten from Hagrid with the spell to cause the inside to be very much larger than it should be, "And I mean very, very few things. And all those things are bloody hard to get. But this sword is one of them, and without it, it would have been pointless if we found all the Horcrux and had no way of destroying them."

He carefully looked the sword over again when he heard Lavi wonder if it was the real thing. It appeared very much real to him, and having held the sword before, he recognized the feeling it gave. So, confidently, he replied he was positive before he transformed the part of the tree that had come with the sword into a blanket and wrapped it around the blade. He didn't want it to cut anything in the bag. Then he gently lower it down, point first, until the hilt disappeared completely.

"That's handy," Lavi commented curiously.

"Tch," Kanda turned away, "Whatever. That might've been a diversion. Let's get going."

"I think it was extremely good luck, or something," Ron sighed, "I can't believe we found it."

Harry didn't reply. He was extremely glad to have to sword as well, but he wasn't blind. Someone led them to the sword, someone put it there. Obviously it must've been someone who was against the Dark Lord, but the sword was suppose to be at the school. But no – Hermione and Ron mentioned it wasn't there anymore, didn't they?

Still, someone did it, and he watched the area carefully as he put the small bag back, and then they resumed their formation and headed toward the Lovegood house. He silently hoped that it didn't turn out bad like he felt almost positively that it would.

__--*--__

A/N: Hmm. Finally, moving forward in the plot! Well, it always is, technically, but now we're _really_ moving forward, right? I was reading the book a little ahead, now that we're merging a bit again, and it gave me a couple ideas. I hope I remember them, haha.

Review?


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Whoo! An early chapter! I haven't done one a quite a while, and since I missed an update even after the whole month of it (Even though that wasn't my fault) then I thought I could try putting another out early! So, here it is. Though it contains a lot of information from the book.

__--*--__

They found the house several miles later, after they'd briefly checked another they stumbled upon. As Ron suggested, they recognized it the moment they saw it, even though they'd never been there before. It appeared to be a giant castle – Ron commented it looked like a chess rook, and Lavi agreed in amused mysticism.

The path zigzagged along, and they followed it past bent crab-apple trees and a patch of radish-like fruit. Harry had the lead, walking alongside Allen, while Ron and Hermione followed side by side, Kanda and Lavi flanking cautiously. He reached for the eagle-shaped door knocker and used it sternly, waiting like the rest for some kind of response and hoping someone was home.

There was, proven just a good few seconds later when Xenophilius swung the door inward, looking dirty, unkempt, and not at all bright or cheerful as he had at the wedding. Harry was inwardly surprised and worried – he was positive that the behavior the man had shown at the wedding was his normal one, and so there had to be something quite wrong for such an obvious change.

"What? What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" Xenophilius cried, his voice high and slightly alarmed, particularly when his eyes landed first on Allen's less-than-normal appearance and uniform. Then his eyes slid to the two behind him, and then to Harry himself, and his mouth gaping as the one eye not pointing inwards to his nose looked instead to Harry's scar.

"Hello, Mr. Lovegood," Harry greeted calmly, holding out one hand, "My names Harry. Harry Potter. May we speak with you?"

The other didn't move to take the hand or otherwise. Harry thought he might've seen something more than shock before the other glanced away and whispered,

"I... I'm not sure that's advisable. It's rather a shock... My word... I.... I'm afraid I'm not sure..."

"It won't take long at all," Harry reassured, decidedly disappointed at the unenthusiastic or even welcoming reaction, taking in how the other's eyes scanned the garden.

"I – oh, all right then. Come in, quickly. _Quickly_!"

Harry entered only after Allen, catching the others eye and recognizing both the look and the slight twitch of the other's fingers. The were ushered in, and inside was a very peculiar kitchen, perfectly round, and that includes everything inside and not just the room itself. Everything was painted in very bright colors, decorated with flowers, insects, and birds, and he swallowed the urge to smile.

He thought he heard Luna upstairs, as from somewhere overhead, leading up to the spiral staircase in the middle of the room, was a great amount of clanging and banging.

He turned, looking to Luna's father curiously. As it was, he caught sight of the man's gaze stuck on Kanda's sword, which he was obviously flaunting in a wordless warning. Xenophilius's expression was pinched as he murmured,

"You'd better come up."

He headed for the staircase, and they followed in the same formation as before. He distinctly heard Lavi wonder in a low voice,

"You wizards sure do have an acquired taste when it comes to decorating."

Hermione hissed threateningly, accompanied by a chocked off cough from Ron. Harry shook his head minutely, glancing at Allen who hid a smile with him.

The room they were led to was some kind of living room shared workspace, cluttered to the extreme with books, papers, and models of creatures on every surface possible. This room, too, was round, and he saw Lavi, who had spread out to the side a little, admiring the moving models, of which hung from the ceiling. Looking around as well, he found that Luna wasn't here – the thing making all the noise was a large wooden object with magical cogs and wheels. It took him a moment to realize it was some kind of printing press, and that was only because it was producing _Quibblers_.

"Excuse me," Xenophilius spoke, moving over to the machine and snatching a tablecloth out from under many books and papers, all of which tumbled to the floor. He threw it onto the press, and the noise became muffled. He turned to face the group, looking off-balance.

"Why have you come here?"

Harry spoke quickly, feeling that it was both important, and because he wanted to get out of here soon.

"I came here because we need you're help."

"Ah. Help. Hmm," The man's good eye shifted again to the scar, looking both frightened and mesmerized. Then it slid to the exorcists, lingering on Allen's scar, Lavi's eye patch, and then, for the longest, Kanda's sword, "I heard about the... about the incident. But the thing is... Helping Harry Potter... rather dangerous..."

"Aren't you the one who keeps telling everyone it's their first duty to help Harry?" Demanded Ron wit ha frown, "you mention it in the _Quibbler_ often enough."

"Uh – Yes. Yes, I've claimed that much. However - "

"Everyone else should do it, but not you?" Ron suggested.

Xenophilius said nothing; His kept looking away, obviously caught in some internal struggle that didn't seem easy to resolve. Harry was even more suspicious then, and he asked in a firm voice,

"Where's Luna, Mr. Lovegood?"

Luna's father did not immediately answer, swallowing heavily. He discreetly wiped his hands on his pants, looked yet again to Mugan in a strange fixation that Harry didn't understand. Then, his voice shaky and hard to hear over the noise of the machine, said,

"Luna is down at the stream, fishing for Freshwater Plimpies. She... she will like to see you. I'll go and call her and then – yes, very well. I shall try to help you."

He took a few steps toward the door, and then Lavi suggested, his own voice calm, cheery, and friendly,

"Would you like some company? You seem nervous. If you're afraid of being jumped or something, I could tag along, and make sure every thing's okay."

"No! No – that won't be necessary," The other exclaimed, eyes widening before doubling his speed toward the stairs, "I'll just be... I'll be just a moment."

The man exited through the same door they'd entered, and a moment later they heard the door open and close. Harry eyed the others spectacularly,

"What do you think?"

"I think that's way too dangerous to have in a house!" Hermione hissed, her voice a little higher than usual, and pointed to a horn mounted on the wall, "It's an Erumpen horn, a Class B tradeable Material, and it can explode at the slightest touch! I didn't say anything because you were talking and I didn't think he'd believe be anyways, since he and Luna believe in the strangest things."

"So he's weird, even to you?" Lavi asked curiously.

"The Lovegood's are very.... eccentric, even for us," Ron agreed.

"Guys, I meant about Xenophilius," Harry interrupted, ignoring Hermione's annoyed stare, as if she thought he should do something that could be very dangerous but wasn't his.

"I'm starting to think your friend Luna isn't here at all," Lavi offered, "And that he's way too nervous. He might even be planning something against you, but I could be wrong."

"Well of course he's nervous!" Hermione insisted, "Considering how much trouble he could get into for helping Harry, he ought to be!"

"I don't think that's quite it."

"What, the death sentence or torture isn't enough to be nervous about?" Ron asked, strangely serious.

"No, that's not what I meant," Lavi sighed softly, "I meant... did you see him? He couldn't meet any body's eyes for long, he stumbled over what he was saying... He kept looking at Yu's sword like it was gonna jump outta it's sheath and impale him all on it's own. That's something a guilty man would do."

"And he wouldn't let Lavi go with him," Allen added.

"There's that too."

"It's like he doesn't what him to see something, or be around for whatever he's doing, if he's really doing something else at all," He eyes the machine quietly.

"She's not here," Kanda contributed, "This friend of yours. We would've seen her coming here. Or I would have... She's not here."

Harry wondered at that. It was the first time he'd ever seen the Japanese exorcist look away with a bit of discomfort, but he had an inkling as the the reason. Kanda would've noticed... and what gave Kanda the ability to notice such a thing if the other two couldn't? The heightened senses of a werewolf.

"Not if the stream circles around to the back of the house, and she was there," Hermione argued, "Besides, you can't be sure."

The door downstairs opened and closed then, and Allen hurriedly murmured as quietly as he could over the machine,

"Either way, be careful and on guard."

Harry nodded, understanding, especially since he'd only had his suspicions confirmed. He watched Ron's unsure face and Hermione's stubborn expression as they settled; Hermione's melted away as she realized that there was no harm in being careful, and that there was no room for being unreasonable here anymore.

Moments later, Xenophilius reappeared, wearing boots and holding a try of ill-assorted teacups and a steaming teapot. He looked at them, marginally calmer now, and set the tray on top of a stack of books that wobbled dangerously, though he didn't notice.

"May I offer you all an infusion of Gurdyroots?" He asked, "We made it ourselves."

He began to pout it into the cups, and it looked as deeply purple as beetroot juice. He nodded to himself, adding,

"Luna is down beyond Bottom Bridge, she is most excited that you are here. She ought not to be too long, she has caught nearly enough Plimplies to make soup for all of us. Do sit down and help yourselves to sugar."

Harry briefly wondered where, exactly, they were all suppose to sit, but shook the thought aside as the man removed a pile of paper from an armchair, crossed his legs, and then questioned,

"Now, how may I hwlp you, Mr. Potter?"

"It's about that symbol you wore around your neck at Bill and Fleur's wedding, Mr. Lovegood. We wanted to know what it meant."

He watched as the man's eyebrows rose,

"Are you refering to the sign of the Deathly Hallows?"

Harry quickly glanced to Hermione, then Ron, and both appeared to be stumped. They'd obviously never heard it before. However, he did notice an odd sheen in Lavi's one eye, oddly focused and shard as he'd never seen them outside battle, and even then, it was a different sheen.

"The Deathly Hallows?" He asked anyway, not able to ask what Lavi knew right at that moment.

"Oh yes. You haven't heard of them?" Xenophilius looked from face to face, studiously ignoring the exorcists link they didn't exist, "I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle headed young man at your brother's wedding-" He nodded at Ron, "- you attacked my for sporting the symbol of a well-known Dark Wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows – at least, not in the crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers, in the hope they might help one with the Quest."

"I'm sorry. I still don't think I understand," Harry replied, glancing at his cup. He remembered Lavi's words and decided to forgo being polite, just in case there was something in the drink. He noticed nobody else other that Luna's father, who stirred in several lumps of sugar, drank theirs.

"Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows."

"Alright, but what _are_ the Deathly Hallows?" Ron cut in. Hermione nodded, as if she'd been about to ask the same thing.

"I assume that you are all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?"

Ron and Hermione were the only ones who answered positively.

"Well, well, Mr. Potter, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'... I have a copy somewhere..."

Xenophilius began to look around the room vaguely, but before he could stand, Hermione said,

"I've got a copy, Mr. Lovegood. I've got it right here."

She pulled out 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' from the small-beaded bag she carried.

"The original?" The other inquired sharply, and when she nodded, he replied, "Well then, why don't you read it out loud? Much the best way to make sure we all understand."

"Er... all right," She coughed nervously, opening the book. Harry noticed the symbol they were investigating flip by before the witch began to read.

The story was a fairy tale about Death and three brothers. When the three brothers created a bridge over a river, Death was not happy, but being as cunning as it was, it pretended opposite, offering gifts in congratulations. The oldest brother chose to ask for an unbeatable wand, which could never lose. This he receive a wand made from elder. The second brother asked for the power to call back others from death, and so he received a stone with this power. The third brother didn't trust death – he asked for something that would allow him to remain undetected, and leave without being followed, and he received Death's Invisibility Cloak. And then the brothers left, and eventually departed from each other onto their own paths.

The oldest brother eventually encountered another wizard with whom he quarreled, and one the fight of course with his unbeatable elder wand. After plenty of boasting, he was killed in a drunken stupor by another, his wand stolen. Death claimed the man. The second brother used the stone to bring back the woman he would've married before she had died, but she wasn't alive, separated instead by some kind of veil. Sad and driven to madness, he ended up killing himself to be with her truly. Death claimed him too. The youngest brother was never found until he died of old age, and he went with Death gladly.

As Hermione finished reading, Harry thought with a frown. Xenophilius took a minute, not seeming to realize the reading had stopped right away.

"And that's it."

"Sorry?" Hermione asked confusedly.

"Those are the Deathly Hallows," he replied, drawing to him parchment and a quill. He began to redraw the symbol.

"The Elder Wand," He drew a straight line, "The resurrection Stone," He added a circle on top of the line, "The Cloak of Invisibility," He encased both the line and the circle in a triangle, "Together, they are the Deathly Hallows."

"There's nothing in the story that mentions the Deathly Hallows," Hermione pointed out.

"Well, of course not," He smirked smugly, "That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those who understand these matters, however, recognize that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death."

"So then... You believe these objects – these 'Hallows' – actually exist?" Hermione asked incrudiously.

"Well of course," Xenophilius rose his eyebrows again.

"But, Mr. Lovegood, how can you _possibly_ believe – ?"

Harry could hear her skepticism, and he would've smiled fondly at the predictable reaction, but he was too interested in the answer.

"Luna has told me all about you, young lady," He frowned slightly, "You are, I gather, not unintelligent, but painfully limited. Narrow, close-minded."

"We know that things like the Invisibility Cloaks exist," Harry cut in smoothly, inwardly wincing at her ferocious expression, Lavi's amusement, and the slight tilt of Kanda's body that meant he was also vaguely amused, "But your story does sound a little..."

"But the Third Hallow is a _true_ Cloak of Invisibility! It isn't a traveling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment charm, or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from Demiguise hair. We're talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer completely invisible, and endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger?"

Harry couldn't exactly saw that he was carrying one just like that at the moment, but he caught Ron and Hermione sharing a look that meant they were think something similar, if not the same.

"Exactly," The man continued as if their silence was proof they had not, "None of you have ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"

"Even if the cloak exists," Hermione tried again, "How would you explain the 'Resurrection Stone'?'

"It is not to be explained, Ms. Granger. Prove that it does _not_ exist."

"But that's – !"

"What about the Elder Wand?" Harry interrupted, inwardly wishing he had these kinds of skills before he'd had to leave Hogwarts. It would have been nice to be able to tell when his friends were about to go on to saw or so something he didn't want them to.

"There is endless evidence for that – The Elder Wand is the most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand."

"Which is what?"

Xenophilius mentioned that the wand had to be captured from its previous owner, if they were to truly master the wand. He mentioned a several names Harry didn't recognize, apparently all murders in order to obtain some wand. Hermione didn't not object or argue, she only stood there with a frown.

"So where'd you think it is now?" Ron wondered.

"Alas, who knows? Who knows where the Elder Wand lies hidden? The trail-"

Harry stopped listening for a moment, his mind whirling in thought. He noticed when things went quiet, and then he voiced his idea,

"I don't suppose the Deathly Hallows have anything to do with the Peverell family?" Seeing Hermione's confused look and realizing he'd never mentioned it, he explained shortly, "I saw the symbol of a gravestone in Godric's Hollow/ Somebody named Ignotus Peverell."

"Yes! Exactly!" The eccentric wizard pointed a finger, "Many of the questers believe the Peverell's have _everything_ to do with the Hallows! That, indeed, the three brothers in the story are in fact the Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the Hallows!"

Then he stood, and headed for the stairs,

"You will stay for dinner?" He called as he continued down, "Everybody always requests our recipe for Freshwater Plimpy soup."

"Probably to develop an anti-poisen," Ron mumbled.

When they couldn't hear Xenophilius on the stairs and the movement in the kitchen, he spoke,

"What do you think?"

Hermione sighed heavily, leaning back against a table,

"Oh Harry. I don't really believe any of it, it was just a waste of time, I'm sorry."

"Well, it was coming from the man who brought us Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Ron grinned faintly.

"Did you hear anything like it before?" Harry asked Lavi, who looked surprised, "You seemed like you knew _something_ at least."

"I was surprised at first," Lavi admitted as everyone looked to him, "The old man once had his hands on an old book, and I read it because I was curious. I remember that story about the three brothers, but since it was just suppose to be a fairy tale, I didn't think much about it. I don't see how that might prove they exist though."

"It's all rubbish," Hermione insisted, "The cloak, okay, maybe. But there's no way the stones exists, and I guess I can see how someone might believe it about the wand. There's lot's of stories about extra-powerful wands, there always has been. But I don't believe they could all be the same one!"

"Well, maybe," Allen entered the conversation with a pensive expression, "When Dumbledore came to us to first time, he mentioned to 'not disbelieve everything you hear' and to 'never rule out a possibility.'"

"He did say that," Lavi agreed, taping his temple as if to remind them discreetly about his memory.

Kanda moved away from them, looking over the piles of papers and books, eying the machine with a frown. Harry listened to Ron and Hermione arguing, Ron bringing up Harry's Invisibility Cloak and how it was indeed one of it's kind and probably old too. He reached the spiral stairs and looked straight up, and was startled when he saw his own face looking back down at him. It took a moment to realize that it wasn't a mirror, but a painting. He heard Hermione scolding Kanda for being nosy, and when he started up the stairs, she exclaimed,

"Not you too Harry! I really don't think you guys should be looking around when he'd not here!"

He ignored her and found himself on the next level in seconds.

It was Luna's bedroom, and the ceiling was painted with the faces of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. They were beautiful and extremely realistic. There were small golden chains woven around them, linking them together, and after a moment of careful observation, he found the word 'friends' repeated a thousand times in golden ink.

He smiled fully, feeling suddenly very fond of her, wishing to see both her, and all his old friends again. He spied a large photograph of a young Luna and a woman who looked very similar, but there was something wrong with it. It was dusty, as was the thick carpet when he cared to look. There were no clothes in the wardrobe, which was slightly open, and the bed looked empty in a way that made him feel no one slept there. A cobweb stretched across the nearest window.

He heard footsteps ascending to the room he was in, and for a moment he was half worried that it was an angry Mr. Lovegood, for that's what it sounded like. Instead, Kanda appeared, and he slid his wand back into it's holster. The swordsman held out an issue of _The Quibbler_ with a sneer, and he took it to find his picture on the front, emblazoned with the words 'Undesirable Number One' followed by the reward money. His resolve hardened and realization dawned completely.

He descended back into the other room with a small sigh, and saw Ron and Hermione both looking extremely worried while Allen watched him carefully and Lavi looked around for anything hidden that should be noticed. He moved back over to them, and took in the smell of burning underpants. He wondered what kind of food could possibly smell so badly, but then he shook his head.

Before he could get a word in, Kanda waved him quiet and seconds later he heard Mr. Lovegood coming up the stairs. Moments later, the man appeared again, holding a tray with bowls on top.

"Mr. Lovegood," Harry nodded, sounding once more as if he were greeting the other, for that's what it felt like. Greeting the new side of the man he couldn't help feel slightly disappointed in, "Where's Luna?"

"I – I've told you already. She is down at Bottom Bridge, fishing for Plimpies."

"I don't believe you," He replied, his voice leaving little room for arguments, "Why is that tray only set just enough for those of us here, right now? Her clothes are gone, her bed hasn't been used in days if not weeks, her room is dusty. Where is she really?"

Xenophilius shook so badly he dropped the tray. The bowls bounced and broke. He had his wand out before the older man could even reach for his, and Hermione and Ron followed suit. The machine suddenly made a loud noise and many _Quibblers_ swirled around there feet. He didn't bother looking down, knowing what he would see.

"What were you planning on doing?" Ron wondered with a scowl, "Attack us and hand over Harry? I don't think so."

"They took my Luna," Xenophilius appeared old, almost horrified, and he shook. His eyes looked and found the exorcists watching at the ready, but not yet in any outward position to attack or otherwise, "They took her because of what I've been writing. I don't know where she is, what they've done to her, or what they're doing, and I can't loose Luna. They might give her back if I – if I -"

"We'll be going now," Hermione said flatly, "Please move aside."

"You must not leave," The other half-pleaded, "They'll be here any moment, any at all, and I _can't _loose my Luna."

Shadows flu by the windows, and Hermione stifled a scream, drawing Ron's attention as well as the exorcists super reflexes, which in turn saved them as they spun back around, covering themselves as Xenophilius drew his wand and fired a spell. It flew by them when Harry dove and pushed his friends down while Lavi dodged out of the way. The spell collided with the horn on the wall.

Everything exploded.

Maybe it was the sound itself, but the room came apart instantly. Wood, paper, rubble of all kind came crashing down and around them. He felt himself turn both invisible and intangible as he activated the cloak, the rubble falling through him.

When it settled, he was immediately on his feet, looking for Mr. Lovegood and realizing the other had been blasted back down the stair by the explosion. Everything was ruined, destroyed and torn. The dust hang so heavily it was almost impossible to breath. The printing press lay on it's side, blocking the door way, and he turned to see the others in various states as he let himself become both visible and tangible.

Hermione was half buried, while Ron was in deep. Allen crouched by the wall, Kanda hesitated to push the shelving out from trapping him, and Lavi rubbed at his singed coat.

The front door crashed open, and he heard a rough voice,

"Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers? Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?"

He heard a bang, followed by a scream of pain from Xenophilius.

"No...no... upstairs... Potter!"

He heard the rough voice threatening and more banging.

"No – no – I beg you!" Xenophilius was sobbing now, "It really is Potter! Really!"

"And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" The Death Eater continue angrily.

Harry drew his wand and waited as he heard more arguing and another voice join the first, comment on how the house looked like it was going to fall in on itself. After a suggestion and more threatening, he heard a spell at the foot of the stairs,

"Homenum revelio."

He could feel the spell slide over him, and he knew immediately the others did too. Particularly when he heard Kanda give a violent twitch and almost sent the shelving straight to the floor and Hermione give a loud gasp.

"There's someone up there all right, Selwyn."

"It's Potter, I tell you, it's Potter! Please... please... give me Luna, just let me have Luna..."

Whatever came next was drowned out when Allen gave a hiss and Harry got a good look at him – the other's cursed eye had activated and was staring at him intently for several long moments before settling on the stairwell. Seconds later, the shelving was willingly pushed away when Kanda noticed, probably deciding there was little point in remaining discreet if they had to fight anyway.

The sounds of Luna's father growing closer became louder as he tried to get through the debris on the stairs.

"How many?" Lavi asked lowly as he helped Ron out of the rubble and Harry moved over to help Hermione.

"Just two," Allen answered as he stood and glared at Kanda, who rolled his eyes.

"Alright, that's easy enough," Lavi replied, dusting Ron off cheerfully, "should we go through the door or...?"

"Harry, can you make Ron invisible?" Hermione questioned urgently, "Please?"

He didn't bother to ask, mostly remembering that it would be bad if Ron was seen with him when he was suppose to be at home, sick. Ron disappeared seconds later.

"Can you make a hole in the floor?" Lavi grinned at Hermione, who frown but nodded.

"When?" She asked in a nervous voice. They heard the sounds of the press being moved.

"_Now_."

The floor was blasted apart as she cried,

"Deprimo!"

The landing was painful for Harry, sending jolts through his feet and up his legs. He could see that Lavi had discreetly grabbed Ron and that Allen had a hold on Hermione. They landed, and before Hermione had even gotten her balance, Harry had thrown up a Protego that bounce a red spell, and Allen had launched himself forward.

There were two akuma, and two Death Eaters. He trusted the exorcists to take care of the akuma while he shot a stunning spell at one. It was swiftly deflected, but he was already shooting off some disarming charms and paralyzing spells.

One akuma, a level one, exploded within the first few seconds and the second akuma, a level two, dodged out of the way.

A spell shot over Harry's shoulder, followed quickly by another. He resisted a smirk and shuffled to the side, setting up another Protego in front of Hermione. One of the Death Eaters almost tripped in the way of a convenient akuma bullet and crumbled to dust. The other one's pale face focused on him and he saw his chance. Before he could fire, though, the other swirled out of existence as he apparated.

He knew the exact moment the level two was defeated, and by then he was feeling a little jumpy and ready to get back to the Black Order. He felt Ron's hand on his shoulder, and a moment later Hermione murmured,

"I think... I think we should get back, quickly."

They were in unanimous agreement, so they gathered quickly and readied themselves to apparate. As they disappeared, they did so just in time to see Xenophilius appear at the bottom of the stairs.

__--*--__

A/N: Jeeze. I totally meant to do half of it today and the other half tomorrow, but somehow I did it all at once. And not only that, but what's this? It's longer?

Because it was in information and book-merger chapter, there was a lot of phrases, quotes, and scenes from the books. I tried to mix them up as much as I could, at least.

See you next Wend.!

Extra reviews for extra chapter?


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: I had a college interview/tour today. It'd so nerve wracking, thinking about those kinds of things, haha. I can't tell if I'm looking forward to it or not...

__--*--__

Allen frowned thoughtfully, ruffling his own hair as he walked down the hallway. He was filled with a sense of unfullfilment, as if there was something he was suppose to be doing that he was not. There wasn't anywhere he was suppose to be at the moment that he was aware of. He had no missions – he'd had but one short one since coming here with Harry initially. He was of course being watched closely. Link following him over his shoulder made that obvious. But he was also the main one to look after Harry since the Order couldn't afford three whole exorcists to look after one person, and why not use someone who was as close to house-arrest as they could get?

Although he was probably the beset choice for the job. It was a secret he'd kept quietly mostly because he didn't know what it meant. 'It' meaning how he could track harry just about anywhere. He was just about positive it had something to do with those times that he'd seen into Harry's visions and causing his cursed eye pain. Now, he could see Harry similarly to an akuma, though he knew the other was not one. It was a fleeting sort of glimpse that always led him in the right direction, and always accompanied by a sort of darkness hovering over the wizard that was unexplainable.

And Allen didn't know how to feel about that.

He turned toward the next hallway that led to where he was heading. Eventually he reached a thick wooden door. He knocked first before entering. Inside the room was empty, an unused room that Harry had claimed as a comfortable sort of place to talk with his friends and practice his wandwork.

Wand work. Even now, that thought was strange to Allen.

He stepped inside, pretending that Link didn't slip in behind him, and smiled toward the trio sitting around a small wireless radio. Harry waved back with a similar smile, and Allen was glad to see that. He'd been honestly concerned about the other boy ever since they'd returned from that Xenophilius's home just two days ago.

Harry had insisted on destroying the locket Horcrux alone. Allen had known about it before hand, but the other two had not, and had gotten a bit upset that Harry would go ahead with it without them. Allen didn't know why Harry had acted alone when it was so obvious the other was so happy to have his friends back, and despite his own happiness the other had confided in him and no one else, he thought he should have argued more since it had somehow effected the wizards mood so obviously.

And it wasn't for the better.

Ron gave a brief grin in his way before returning his attention to the wireless radio, mumbling words under his breath that made absolutely no sense to the exorcist and sounded extremely strange. Hermione gave him a courteous nod. She'd come a bit more tolerant of the Order as a whole lately, but she still seemed particularly weary around Allen, and while he didn't understand it, he didn't feel offended either.

"May I join you?" He asked politely.

"Of course," Harry's smile was a bit tired but held a warm glow to it, "Grab some floor."

"Thanks," The exorcist sat down cross legged to the be-speckled boy and asked, "So um, can I ask what you're doing?"

"Of course," Harry replied again, turning his attention to Ron, "It turns out there's a broadcast called 'PotterWatch' on the radio that's password protected. Ron's trying to guess the password right now."

"Is that so?" Allen sounded curious, but he didn't bother asking how that worked. He'd learned by now that magic wasn't something one could understand without some basics, and the basics he _did_ know generally weren't useful for learning more advanced things.

"I've got it!" Ron suddenly exclaimed excitedly as the radio suddenly made some noise, "I've got it! The Password was Godric!"

"-come back two of our regular contributors have joined me here this evening. Evening boys!"

"Hi."

"Evening, River."

"River is Lee," Ron offered, "They've all got code names, but you can usually tell-"

"Shh!" Hermione hissed. Allen smiled slightly before leaning forward slightly in more curiosity.

"Before we hear from Royal and Romulus," The unfamiliar voice continued, "We have another list of death tolls to report on that Wizarding Wireless Network News and Daily Prophet don't think are important to mention. First are the new deaths we have discovered as the result of the fairly recent Godric's Massacre. First is a brave auror visiting from America, named Bastion. We send out our condolences to his pregnant wife and two children. One that list is also-"

Allen was admittedly focused more on Harry's face than on the pitifully long list being recited. The other was carefully closed off and detached, but he had long since learned to tell that the other was upset.

He didn't know what, exactly, his relationship with Harry would be called. Teacher? Guardian? Friend? Comrades? Or just an acquaintance or temporary ally? He didn't know, but he thought it was a mix of them. Harry was an intensely fascinating person, and he thought that they were more alike that he'd like to admit. And he didn't like to admit it because it just seemed like looking into himself if he'd been born into a different life, and as such, he could judge the other boy far too accurately.

"-Also recently was the death of Ted Tonks and Dirk Cresswell."

At this, all three of the other's faces fell and met in apparent disbelief and sadness. Hermione's was twisted in horror and Ron looked away after just a moment. Harry clenched his jaw and fist but didn't otherwise change.

"Also, there was a goblin named Gornuk. It's believed that Muggle-born Dean Thomas and a second goblin both believed to have been traveling with Tonks, Cresswell, and Gornuk, may have escaped. If Dead is listening, or if anyone has any knowledge of his whereabouts, his parents and sisters are desperate for news."

"Ohh..." Hermione muttered in distress. Allen glanced and saw Harry looking at him,

"Dean was a friend of ours," He explained softly, "We went to school together."

Allen nodded in understanding. He'd never gone to school before, but he knew that it was probably like someone from here at the Order, like a scientist, going missing. He felt sorry for this magical world torn apart from within.

"In Gaddley, a muggle family of five was found dead in their home. It was members of the Order of the Phoenix that has confirmed the cause of death as the Killing Curse. It's only more evidence that Muggle slaughter is being little more than a recreational sport under the new regime – not that we needed any more."

"Listeners, I'd like to invite you now to join us in a minute's silence in memory of Ted Tonks, Dirk Cresswell, Gornuk, Bastion, the Muggles killed by the Death Eaters, and all those lost in the Godric's Massacre."

Silence fell, and Allen respected it. He even mourned for these people he didn't know. War was enough to make him mourn, and it was obvious the other three were bothered greatly. Link even remained silent, sitting and watching the radio because he had nothing better to look at.

"Thank you. Before we go on to an update on how the new Wizarding orders are affecting the Muggle World, let's hear quickly from Romulus. Do you maintain, as you have every time you've appeared on our program, that Harry Potter is still alive?"

"I do," At this, Allen perked up. This was a voice he did vaguely recognize – the Lupin werewolf, "There is no doubt at all in my mind that his death would be proclaimed as widely as possible by the Death Eaters if it had happened, because it would strike a deadly blow at the morale of those resisting the new regime. I believe in Harry as well, and I know that he is with some fearsome fighters right now. 'The Boy Who Lived' remains a symbol of everything for which we are fighting: the triumph of good, the power of innocence, the need to keep resisting. He is all of these, and I know he will keep fighting for us until he is no longer able to do so."

A small grateful smile curled up on Harry's face, and it was a nice thing to see. Allen privately thought that even though the boy had a lot on his shoulders, at least he had good people trying to help him.

"And what would you say to Harry if you knew he was listening, Romulus?"

"I'd tell him that we're all with him in spirit," Lupin continued after the slightest hesitation, "I'd tell him to follow his instincts, which are good and nearly always right. And I would tell him that... that we're all proud of him."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears while Ron watched the floor with a misty gaze. Harry lowered his head so his hair naturally covered his eyes. Timcampy emerged from Allen's pocket and flew over, nudging the wizards head in an attempt to be comforting.

"'Fearsome fighters' indeed!" A new voice suddenly spoke up on the radio, "Almost as fearsome as a group of Death Eaters!"

"And let's introduce our surprise guest," Lee spoke dryly, "A brave soul that we'll call saber-"

"No, no, no!" The new voice interrupted, "I've already said that I'll have no code name! My name is Simm Safarri and-"

"Yes yes," Lee sighed briefly and then added, "Simm here was present at the Godric's Massacre, and he is the author of the article currently floating around about it. Tell me Simm – is it true that you saw harry Potter?"

"Yes yes, you'd know that if you'd bother to read the article," Simm replied shortly, "Yes, I saw him alright. Spoke to him too. I don't know just who he's with, but Potter seems to have gained some interesting skills."

"You say you spoke to him? And what was your impression; Did he seem well?"

"Oh quite. Healthy and whole. He was very serious and he seemed to know what he was doing. In fact, he pulled off some impressive moves to fend off one of those akuma creatures. He also seems to be quite close to those strange people he's traveling with."

"And what would you tell the people in regards to Harry?"

"Well, he said something very interesting that I think would be good for the people to know," Simm spoke matter-of-factly, and harry frowned curiously while Hermione and Ron looked even more curious, "He said, and I quote, 'Just because you don't see me... doesn't mean that I'm not around'. I believe he'd very busy bringing You-Know-Who down, and that everyone needs to keep their hope close."

Ron sent Harry a raised eyebrow and Harry just blushed a little.

"That is a very heroic thing to say," Lupin mused.

"Yes, it is," Lee agreed, "He certainly sounds like he's confident. Is there else that you remember?"

"It seems there's some kind of Order dedicated to fighting against those akuma creatures," Allen blinked and looked to see that Harry was studiously avoiding his gaze, "There were three people with Potter when he appeared, and they dispatched the army of them fairly quickly. As far as I know, they did not appear to be magical, but they hold the true secret to the tough creatures."

Allen listened as the broadcast continued, to the reported happenings to those close to Harry and a few wise words from another friend of there's named Fred, though his identity seemed in question. To the reports of the Dark Lord being spotted at many different places as well as abroad. The whole thing seemed to lighten the other three's mood, which was good, but as it came to an end, Allen noticed Harry's look of distant resignation.

"Good, eh?" Ron asked happily.

"It's very brave of them," Hermione said admiringly, "If they're found..."

"He's abroad..." Harry murmured slightly, "It's as if he's... looking for something."

"You don't still think he's after the Elder wand, do you Harry?" Hermione asked with a disgruntled expression, "It doesn't exist!"

"Of course not," Harry replied with a small roll of his eyes, "Because of course just because you don't have proof means it doesn't exist."

"Harry!" She exclaimed, "It's ridiculous! It's just a kids tale! Dumbledore wanted us to go after the Horcruxes, so that's what we should do! Why do you think we should suddenly try to go after something that probably doesn't exist!?"

"I don't," He shook his head as he stood, "No, you're right, sorry. I'm going to go and lay down for a while. I have an intense headache."

The other two said nothing to his departure, but Allen watched for a moment. When the other was gone and a moment or two passed, he stood and went to go after him. He gave Link a small look as he went, and was glad that the other stayed back instead of hovering like he usually did.

He caught up to Harry after a moment of jogging and didn't say a word, just falling in step. Timcampy fluttered about their heads worriedly. After several twists and turns, they approached the dorm part of the building.

"... Is there something wrong?" Allen finally asked when they were a little closer, "Ever since we came back you have seemed disturbed."

"Yes, there is something wrong," Harry replied sullenly, "But when isn't there?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know if you'd understand..." Allen was aware of the other looking at him observationally, closely, and he stood it for a few long seconds before the other suddenly said, "No... No, actually, maybe you would. Much better than they would, at any rate."

He immediately knew the other was worried about something else, something that was probably dangerous and tied to his duties. So instead of pausing at Kanda's door, he made a small motion and led the other to his own room, where he stepped inside.

"Sorry it's so small," He apologized, though knowing that Kanda's was probably the same size, "Sit wherever you'd like."

He himself sat on the edge of his bed and watched the other take up his offer on the chair to his desk, turning it to face him. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he said,

"So, what's bothering you?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably before speaking,

"I started think about that story that Mr. Lovegood told us. About the Deathly Hallows. I think it's real. I know it's real. I've told this to Ron and Hermione, but they don't agree."

He paused in thought, then continued,

"At first, I really wanted to find them all myself. The master of Death! I thought maybe it would give me the power to defeat Vol -... the Dark Lord. And that maybe I could help you guys too. But then I remembered that I can't really, and what's the point of having it if I can't use it?"

Allen swallowed his surprise that the other would even think about helping the Black Order after his own war was settled, or that it would be a deciding factor in his interest toward the Deathly Hallows.

"Then I thought that maybe the Dark Lord would want it, and I think he's abroad, searching for the Elder Wand. I'm positive he is. I don't think he knows the story, or about the other Hallows, because he was raised Muggle. I have two of the three Hallows."

"Two?" He blinked, startled. He watched the other pull a small ball out of his pocket. It bared a large resemblance to Timcampy, but it didn't move.

"The stone is in here," Harry admitted, "I checked. When I first caught this snitch, I almost swallowed it, and I realized that it might not open if I didn't actually put it in my mouth. When I did, it opened, and there's a stone inside, and I _know_ it's the resurrection stone. I have the cloak already."

"And this is what's bothering you?"

"It's because I don't know what I'm suppose to do!" Harry exclaimed, "I mean, Dumbledore _told_ me to find the Horcruxes. And yet he gave that book to Hermione, and what reason would he do that unless he wanted us to find something inside it? Then he gave me the stone, and it's like he's secretly telling me to find them all."

"Dumbledore appeared to be a very mysterious man," Allen allowed himself to say, "I wouldn't put it past him to leave clues like that. But he... he mentioned something about the Master of Death in his visit. I didn't think anything of it because it was in the middle of everything else he was saying, but... but I think that you are meant to go after the Horcrux."

"Why?"

"Because he mentioned that there's no such thing as the Master of Death. Horcrux's keep a person alive, right? What is the point in becoming a Master of Death, if that's possible, if it means that the Dark Lord will keep coming back? You should go after the Horcrux's and make sure he can not."

Harry was quiet for a long moment with a pensive expression, and then Allen wondered,

"But is that all that was bothering you? It doesn't seem like it is..."

"It's not... it's just that..." Harry sighed heavily, looking older than he really was, "Beside the other things that are wrong, I've been thinking about the Horcrux's a lot. About where they are. And I think..."

His hand strayed to his scar, rubbing it absent mindedly.

"I think _I _might be one. If Nagini – the snake – can be one, I might be too. Dumbledore said once that he thought that Vold – I mean, the Dark Lord, gave me the Parseltounge and stuff on accident when he attacked me, when he gave me this scar."

Realization dawned on Allen. If Harry was indeed a Horcrux – and that did seem to be the case, since it would explain that shadow he always saw – then there was only one thing that would solve the issue. And that would be Harry's death.

His face must have shown his realization, for Harry smiled thinly.

"I can't possibly tell Hermione or Ron. But I really felt like I had to tell somebody. I didn't think I actually would, but now that I have, I feel better. Thanks for listening."

He stood up with full intention of leaving, and Allen stood as well, hesitating for a moment before venturing to say,

"I do not understand magic, so I don't know the full consequences of what you're saying. But I do think that you shouldn't give up hope. Your friends are really worried about you. You are lucky to have them."

"Yeah, I am," Harry smiled wider, almost wistfully.

"And after... after you've done what you need to do, you will be welcome back here sometimes, you know. It would be nice if you would visit when you could."

"Visit?" He looked so surprised, the exorcist smiled and elaborated.

"Of course. We've all become very fond of you, you know. The scientists are really eager to learn more from you, and I know that Johnny mentions you a lot. Lenalee is always worrying over you health, and Lavi has a lot of fun with you. I've never seen Kanda be so patient with anyone either, and that's a real accomplishment, I think."

"Thank you."

Allen took in the look of contentment and nodded back with a grin.

"Now... I'm hungry. Want to come with me?"

"Sure, why not?" Harry laughed softly.

So they started heading toward the cafeteria, talking quietly all the while. Johnny found them just outside the entrance and showed off the sheath that the science devision had created for the Gryffindore sword, which Komui had suggested and Harry had thought a good idea as well. He'd handed the sword over just a little over a day before, and he couldn't help be surprised at the speed.

Allen admired the new sheath for it as well, though it was admittedly plain compared to the jeweled sword inside it.

At the cafeteria, however, something happened that made it apparent that not all things were well. For in the middle of his meal, Harry received a painful vision that caused him to pass out completely.

And Allen found himself sucked in once more for the ride.

It was a couple weeks later that Harry found himself in the forest surrounding the Black Order. He was with Ron and Kanda, and they weren't far from the Order. They were mostly practicing Harry's sparing outside for once, and Ron had elected to come along. He'd been fascinated with the training ever since he'd gotten a glimpse of it the first time.

Harry was focused completely on Kanda, trying to get use to the weight of the Gryffindore's sword swinging about on his hip. He'd never used it as a sword, and he didn't plan to. He carried for the simple fact that he wanted to be prepared for the possibility that he'd be swept away and come across Nagini or perhaps another Horcrux. He didn't want it to be recognizable on first glance though, so as per Kanda's advice, he kept the hilt and hand guard wrapped.

He attacked forward intensely, dedicatedly. He was just as determined as ever, particularly after he'd had that nasty vision of Voldemort getting his hands on the Elder Wand. It had been unexpected and unwanted, but there was nothing he could so about it now.

He was focused on finding the other Horcrux, and for that, he thought he had discovered a good clue as to the whereabouts of another Horcrux. He was in the middle of gathering more evidence that one was in Gringotts, but even with Komui's help, it was difficult.

He ducked a dangerous swipe that probably would have broken his nose. Timcampy swirled around his head lazily. He didn't know why it had followed. Perhaps it had something to do with Allen being strangely busy with paperwork, he wasn't sure. He'd learned that it had more of a personality than other golems, and that if it wanted to go somewhere, then it would.

He almost landed a punch, feeling fabric sliding against his knuckles.

It was just into March, and he was feeling a little hopeless. As much as he appreciated the people around him's help, the school year was coming to an end, and Voldemort had the Elder Wand. He told himself to be patient. He had to be.

It was a lot like sparring with Kanda. Move too quickly or without thinking, and he'd be hurting. A lot.

He used his forearm and upper arm to block a kick, and attempted to grab a hold of the leg, but it was snapped out of his reach and he found himself up close to the other when he dodged a strike. He went to head butt, and the other snapped his head back in an attempt to dodge, but it meant he didn't see Harry raising his leg. The moment the other stepped back, he had enough room, and he let himself kick outwards, inwardly gloating at his very first solid hit.

And then Kanda grabbed his leg and _twisted_.

Everything went out of focus when he found himself airborne and spinning way too quickly. Then he was on his stomach with a heavy boot on his back. He knew immediately the match was over. Despite his sore leg, he couldn't help feeling quite proud of himself.

He stood with a controlled grin and saw Kanda give a slight approving nod.

"Better," He grudgingly said, "Don't let it go to your head, or you'll end up like the bean sprout."

"Wouldn't want that, right?" Harry joked, "I'll do my best, thanks."

"That was wicked!" Ron exclaimed from the sidelines, "Voldemort won't even know what hit him!"

Perhaps they were caught up in the moment, because they both forgot something very important.

"I don't think Voldemort will let me that close, Ron, and I hope I don't have to get that close."

One moment of comfortable silence passed before everything stilled as a sense of impending doom filled the air. Ron's face filled with absolute horror, and he immediately stood in alarm. When he opened his mouth, however, a loud pop sounded, followed by several others.

Kanda had reached for his sword, and by the time they appeared, he had the edge directed to one's throat. A moment of extremely still silence and wands were pointed straight at Kanda, Harry, and Ron.

"Drop the sword," The man that was at sword point demanded, "Or you'll be dead so fast..."

"You think so?" Kanda snarled, "Do you trust your men to be so quick? They don't look like the fast type to me..."

"Maybe not, but are you willin' to risk your friends safety?"

A nod drew Kanda's attention to Harry and his friends, who were all under wand point as well. The exorcist let out a wordless snarl, and Harry swallowed his guilt. He tried to convey it by eyesight, and he had only his gut feeling that told him that the other understood.

Still, it was almost painful to watch the proud exorcist give up Mugan.

"Swords are so out dated," One mumbled as he took the sword at Harry's hip, "What kinda club is this?"

"A stupid one, obviously," The first commented, taking a cautious step back, "You know 'ho likes to say the Dark 'ord's name?"

When nobody answered, he continued as if he'd never paused,

"The Order of the Phoenix, that's 'ho. Mean anything to you?"

"No," Ron tried to lie, it was obvious. But then the first leaned forward,

"Wait... you look familiar," The man mused, staring at Harry sharply, "Yes... where've I seen you before?"

He stalked closer, and Harry prayed that the other wouldn't see his scar. Luck was against him it seems, because he suddenly found the man in his face crowing,

"Harry Potter!" His face lit with excitement and malicious glee, "I never would 'ave imagined I'd get my 'ands on 'arry Potter himself! Oh, the Dark Lords going to enjoy this, and I can only imagine 'ow 'e'll reward me."

"Scabior," One said urgently, "Are you sure? What should we do with him?"

"We'll take 'im to the Malfoys," Scabior grinned wickedly, "We've been on a role. We just brought in a couple yesterday, and now 'arry Potter himself! Yes, yes, We'll go there now."

"But maybe... maybe the Ministry would be better?" One suggested, and Harry hoped they would chose the Ministry because maybe they'd get a chance, but no, it wasn't to be.

"No. I'm positive that's Potter, and that's prob'ly Weasly. And I don't know 'ho this is," Scabior gave Kanda a once over, "'ut I'm sure that if the rumors are true and this is one of the freaks traveling with Potter, then we'll get something out of 'im too. But he looks too dangerous to bring along just like this so – _stupify!_"

Harry's eyes went wide as Kanda went down, paralyzed and unable to move. He hit the ground as a heavy thump, and he watched the glazed over eyes in horror. But then the glazed over eyes became clear once again, and he remembered – werewolves had high resistance towards magic. Kanda remained down and limp though, and Harry hoped he'd stay that way, if only to cultivate a surprise.

"'ell, let's get goin'," Scabior spoke, "We'll apparate on three. I've got Potter."

He moved around and grabbed Harry's hair after Harry was bound in ropes like Ron. The other's grabbed a hold of Ron and hesitated slightly before grabbing Kanda. Harry noticed Timcampy burrowed in his coats front, and it wiggled slightly in reassurance.

"One – two – three!"

Then they were hurtling through space and Harry watched the colors fly by with an exasperated sigh. These things always happened to him, didn't it?

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A/N: I had to think about the time line for a while there, but I think it's alright. I wasn't exactly specific about how much time had passed in the other time skips after all.

Anyways, moving even further forward! Whooo! Look at it go.

Review! Where'd everybody go?


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: Who's celebrating Thanksgiving Day? I know a lot of people don't live anywhere near me, so many may not. I'm so happy – I have a day weekend off of school! Either way, hope everyone has a nice holiday (If it IS a holiday for you).

__--*--__

Harry found himself staring at huge iron gates that were tall and imposing, even though it was still daylight out, and would be for at least a little while. He was tugged roughly to stand next to Scabior, who reached out to touch the gate. He had an annoyed expressed, which transformed into a vaguely impressed but still startled look as the gate had it's own transformation, the iron melding together to form a frightening face. The face had a clanging, echoing voice, and it demanded,

"State your purpose!"

The men behind Scabior jumped and one even let out a light shriek that Harry would have found amusing if the situation wasn't so dire. He squashed his intense anger at himself. What a stupid mistake he'd made! He'd thought he was above those kinds of mistakes by now, but it seems he'd been overestimating himself.

"'e've got Potter," Scabior announced, puffing his chest out just a little, "'e've just captur'd 'arry Potter!"

The gates swung open without a sound.

They were ushered in and Harry caught a brief glimpse at the others. Ron was decidedly pale, looking a little sick. Kanda was completely limp, being carried by two men because the levitation charm had slid right off. He wondered why that didn't make them suspicious, but perhaps they were just confident in their leader's power. Both men were obviously having trouble, and he didn't blame them. He'd been pinned enough times to know that Kanda had a _lot_ of muscle, and muscle was quite heavy.

High hedges muffled any sound they made as they walked up the drive. He saw a white peacock at one point, and stumbled as he tried to keep even with Ron, as they were tied back-to-back.

They made it to the front door. It opened and spilled light on them, and he looked up to see Narcissa Malfoy staring at him coldly. A spark of recognition and realization passed behind her eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked, and it was obvious the question wasn't directed at Harry, but rather his capturers.

"The name's Scabior, and I just caught one 'arry Pot-"

"Yes, so I see," She interrupted, "Where is their wands?"

"It's right 'ere," Scabior held it out alongside Ron's saying, "The third bloke didn't have a wand on 'em. Jus' a sword, as did 'arry, which is quite strange but-"

"Bring them in," She interrupted yet again, turning from the door and leading the way. They went up stone steps, passed portraits, and came to another large door.

Inside was the drawing room. It was huge, with a crystal chandelier, and more portraits against the purple walls. At the desk was a familiar figure, which rose as they entered.

"What is this?" Lucius drawled, rounding the desk and eying them.

"They've caught Potter," Narcissa answered before beckoning to the other figure, "Come Draco. While I recognize him, you've gone to school with him for quite some time. Reassure us."

Draco approached, his eyes darting between the three prisoners. They seemed afraid to linger, and he seemed even more afraid of coming even remotely close. He and his father looked remarkably alike, Harry noticed faintly.

"Well, Draco?" Lucius asked, and Harry counted it to the fact he hadn't seen Lucius in quite some time that the man bothered to ask at all, "Is it Potter?"

"I can't – I... I guess so... yeah...:" Draco mumbled lowly.

"Yes, I thought so," Lucius sounded extremely excited as he walked closer, "My, Potter, you always were foolish and reckless."

Harry resisted the urge to point out that he'd been minding his own business in the forest when they were caught. It was foolish, he guessed, but not really reckless.

"And Weasly's son as well," The head of the Malfoy family barely spared a glance in the red-heads direction, opting instead to push aside Harry's hair and reveal the scar. As if there'd been any doubt an his mind, his face glowed upon seeing it. Finally, he looked toward the last prisoner.

"And this? What are you doing? Why are you carrying him?" He demanded of the two men holding Kanda up and sweating at the effort.

"Well... the levitating charm..." One mumbled when it because obvious the other was glued to the floor and not planning on talking, "It didn't work, see... so we had to carry him..."

"Did not work?" Narcissa wondered, eyes narrowing, "And that did not seem suspicious to you?"

As she spoke, she was drawing his wand and pointing it at Kanda. Harry's own eyes widened, and the small panic he'd been carefully controlled bloomed behind his eyelids as he jerked against the ropes futilely.

"And where's the Granger girl?" Lucius wondered, ignoring his wife, "She was always apart of the group, whereas that one was not."

"Though we have heard that Potter has made some new friends lately," Lucius continued, "And I have heard of Greyback's death a while back. It is most assuredly by one of Potter's friends, for he doesn't have it in himself, right, Potter?"

Harry jerked against his restraints again, eying the wand worriedly. He watched as the other man leveled the wand and readied himself for what was probably the Killing Curse. But then a golden blur flew from Harry's jacket, and Timcampy, whom Harry'd forgotten was there, lunged and sunk it's admittedly large and pointed teeth into Narcissa's hand. She let out a surprised gasp and jerked her wand away, using her other hand to tear it off and throw it away. In mid air it was blasted backwards by an unknown spell, hitting the wall and braking into many, many pieces and almost turning to dust. From the exposed doorway stepped Bellatrix Lestrange.

"What's this, Cissy? What is all this ruckus?"

Harry seethed silently, gripping his hands into fists behind his back. Ron looked at him worriedly, still pale as death. Kanda still did not move, and Harry was starting to wonder if he'd imagined that the other was, in fact, still awake and aware. He could hardly believe that Timcampy had been destroyed like that. He'd seen the golem interact with Allen, and he knew they were close. In fact, he knew it was the only memento of his Master that Allen had had, and now it was gone, destroyed by his foolish mistake.

"It's Potter and his friends!" Lucius announced, his excitement uncontaminated by his wife's profusely bleeding hand, "Potter, caught at last!"

Harry inwardly winced when she shrieked his last name in shock. She approached him in long strides, staring into his face and lighting with savage glee. She looked into Ron's face, lighting up even more. She laughed in exhilaration,

"Yes, yes!" She came to Kanda and momentarily paused. She knew all of Harry's friends, of course, and she did not recognize this one. She grabbed his chin, lifted his face, and she didn't seem to recognize him. She did, however, realize that he was not actually sedated or paralyzed. She knew the signs, after all, and Kanda did not, so he didn't know what, exactly, to imitate. She jumped back, holding out her wand before her with a snap, and hissed angrily, sounding very much like a snake,

"_Crucio_."

For a split second, Harry saw nothing but that spell flying towards the others face. In the next, Kanda was in the air, spinning and throwing one of the men who'd been carrying him in the way of the spell. The man promptly screamed loud and long, collapsing to his knees. Kanda landing in a slightly crouched position, looking immediately toward the man who held Mugan and the Gryffindor sword. Before he could take even a step, he had to start dodging the many colored lights flying his way. Narcissa had turned on him instantly as well, and suddenly it was not just a rainbow of spells flying around the room.

An armchair grew teeth and snapped at Kanda's leg, digging into it and trying to tear like a dog. Harry's eyes were wide, and he made to react and activate his cloak, kept on him under his jacket at all times, but a spell hit him in the back of the head, and he heard Scabior say softly, breath hitting his ear unpleasantly,

"Now, don't even think abou' it. Sit there an' be a nice boy, eh?"

He internally cursed using every word he knew, including the ones he'd learned at the Black Order. He hadn't remembered the men still behind and around him. He'd been too caught up in his panic and fear for Kanda.

Speaking of, he watched as Kanda ducked, and the top of a lampshade was blasted to pieces, leaving behind a very sharp metal pole. Kanda grabbed it deftly, lifting it and throwing. Bellatrix didn't bother catching it or blasting it. She simply sidestepped it to save more time for spell casting, and the pole slid easily through the air with a sharp whistling sound. Harry knew he wasn't the only one who saw the pole slid into the wall and continue right of the the base of what use to be the lamp. Scabior's knuckles turned white as he looked at the saucer which appeared to be stuck to the wall.

Kanda wrenched his leg free from the animated armchair after ripping it apart with strength unnatural. He ducked another crucio, but bot Narcissa and Bellatrix were not young students, and they were experienced in this sort of thing. They'd begun circling him, not going until they were directly across from each other with him in the middle because the risk of accidentally hitting each other was too great.

The great bleeding mass on his leg didn't seem to slow Kanda down any, but still, he was unarmed and going against two powerful and experienced witches. Mugan would have probably won the battle in his favor since he could deflect the magic with it, but he didn't have it. He tried – every move he made was to get closer to the Innocence sword.

But Kanda is only human.

He saw the spell before it hit him, but he couldn't dodge. He'd already seen the path laid out before him, and the spell he'd run into if he moved to his right was the Killing Curse, this he knew. He had nowhere else to go. So instead, he turned as well as he could, hoping that shielding his chest and vitals would be enough. And thankfully, it was.

A large gash opened up along his lower torso, curling up across his ribs and continuing onto his back and shoulder blades, ending only at the top of his right shoulder.

It was enough to make him stumble and two paralyzing spells hit him at once. Only a werewolf on the full moon might have been able to shake two powerful spells like that off.

Kanda fell to his knees, and for a moment everything was silent. The room was fairly trashed, and Harry had to still his rapid heartbeat in order to hear anything else. He was raging on the inside, angry, humiliated even though he wasn't the one who'd lost. It wasn't even a fair fight! Two witches against an unarmed man who didn't know much about magic, never mind the fact it was an exorcist, was not right.

Bellatrix approached the other, breathing hard. She snapped his face up again by his chin,

"What are you?" She asked harshly, "You are certainly lucky. That spell was meant to cleave you in two."

Harry couldn't see the others face. He couldn't see whatever it was that Bellatrix saw, but she suddenly backed up several steps and hissed,

"Werewolf!" She took her wand and threw a crucio, her favorite spell. It hit, and Harry watched as she sneered, "Scum. I'll unbind your face. Let's hear a scream, hm?"

She let out a deranged laughter as she waved her wand. All Harry saw was Kanda's neck becoming taunted and his eyes become stormy. But there was nothing but a blank face, no sign of pain. The woman was not satisfied with this. Her face became a bit angry as she cast it again and again, and Harry was privately impressed. He knew, intimately, how it felt to be under that spell. Her anger grew, and she didn't get control over herself again until her sister murmured something to her.

"Let's see what you were so desperate to get your hands on," She was suddenly pleasant again, turning toward the man and demanding to see the swords.

"This one's his, ma'm," He quickly held out Mugan, obviously eager to please, "It doesn't seem to be anything special."

"Like I would trust you to make an educated guess," She snapped, grabbing the hilt harshly. A low, animalistic growl echoed low around the room. She didn't appear unsettled, but the men who'd brought Harry and his friends here certainly did. She looked Mugan over critically before denouncing it as junk. Then she demanded to see the other sword.

"T-this one's P-P-Potter's," The man stuttered, holding out the Gryffindor sword. She took it and quickly began to unbind the bandages. The glittering hilt of the sword quickly became visible, and Bellatrix dropped the edge of the bandage as if it had burned her terribly. For a moment, she just stood there and stared in absolute horror. Then she spun towards Kanda, forcing his face up yet again and whispering,

"Where did you get this sword?"

An infuriating smirk crossed the other's face.

Her head snapped up as she remember who, exactly, was here. She turned and stalked toward Harry, her face quite insane.

"Where did you find this sword?" She repeated, waving it in his face dangerously. "Where?! Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

He kept his face carefully blank even as two truths stood out to him. The first was that she was too frantic for answers for just the sword. It wasn't that valuable to them – so was there something else in her vault that caused her to react like this? The second was that it was Snape who'd had it. Someone had to have put it at the top of that tree. It didn't get there by accident. But if someone had stolen it from Snape, he'd have told Voldemort.

He didn't reply. She screamed, low and insane, reaching out to grasp his face and dragging it down to leave long scratches down the side of his face. She stood and half paced the ground, snapping out,

"Leave," She motioned toward Scabior and his men, "Leave, and be quick before I change my mind. I would kill you in a second..."

"Wait a moment," Scabior argued, "What about the reward? It was _we_ who captured the boy!"

A bang and a flash of light, and Scabior was laying dead just behind Harry. Ron had a good look at the glassy eyes and let out a sound of shock and fear. The rest of the men were quick to clamber out of the room as fast as they could.

"Now look here, Bellatrix," Lucius started with an angry scowl, "There are ways to be-"

"Be silent!" She screeched, "You have no idea, none at all, of the grave danger we're in! We have a serious problem here!"

What problem, Harry wondered. What had her in such a state? He looked toward Kanda worriedly, but he was still on his knees and head bent. Bellatrix panted, eyes a little dilated. She looked to the sword, then back to the prisoners,

"Potter must not be harmed, for the Dark Lord wants him for himself... But if he finds out... I must... I must know..."

She looked to her sister,

"Place the prisoners in the cellar. I must think about what to do!"

"This is my house, Bella, you don't give orders in my-"

"Do it! You have no idea! Hurry!"

Fire shot from the tip of Bellatrix's wand, and she was indeed frightening. Narcissa was silent for a long moment before nodding, more to herself than to anyone else.

"Fine. I will get Wormtail."

Moments later, Harry was being dragged up to his feet and then levitated by Narcissa while Wormtail struggled with Kanda's heavy weight.

"Wait," Bellatrix interrupted, "Leave the Blood Traitor."

She used a short silver knife that she'd drawn from under her robes to cut Ron free, and then Harry was being led away. Harry tried to struggle against the ropes and the spell, but he could not move. He simmered in his anger and hate as they went down a long, narrow, steep flight of stairs. At the bottom was a heavy door that Narcissa opened with a tap of her wand. Inside was a dank and musty room, covered in terrible darkness. Just after they were tossed in and the door shut firmly behind them, a long and loud scream cut through the air from above them.

He suddenly found he could move again. He guessed the spell had been lifted, and he sat up and cursed quietly.

"Harry?" The voice took a moment to register, but when it did, his eyes grew wide, "Harry, is that you?"

"Luna?" He exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"

"I don't suppose there's any light in here?"

"No, not really," She answered apologetically, "...who's with you?"

His mind raced in remembrance as he looked over and spotted a dark shadow lumped next to him. It didn't move for a moment, but when he cried the other's name, he heard a deep voice say in annoyance,

"Don't shout, four eyes."

"Kanda," He repeated, slightly relieved, "How are your wounds? How serious are they? I didn't get a good look..."

"Fine," Kanda replied shortly, and the shadow shifted and sat up.

"You can move?" Harry questioned in surprise.

"Perhaps they're not as powerful as they think they are," The other scoffed. Harry thought that perhaps it was the other way around.

"Hello?" Luna called softly, "I don't recognize that voice. Are you a friend of Harry's?"

"Yeah, yeah he is Luna," Harry replied, wincing as another scream cut the air, "Listen, we've got to get out of here."

"I'm going to ask you again!" Bellatrix's voice cut in, "Where did you get this sword? _Where_?!"

"I'll never tell!" Ron screamed back, "Never, never, never, never-"

He kept repeating this, until it finally ended in another drawn out scream.

"Is that Ron?" She asked worriedly.

"Yes," Harry hissed back, "We've got to hurry – Kanda, what do you think?"

He heard the rustle of clothing for a long moment or two before he heard the telltale sound of wings. He heard nervous shifting from Luna, but he was focused on a small shadow he could see flying by Kanda's head.

"To Headquarters," Kanda demanded, and for a moment Harry thought it would get them out of there, but then he heard static and realized that it was a golem and it was contacting the Black Order. For a moment there was nothing, but then he heard Komui's sharp voice cut through the silence,

"Kanda? Is that you?"

"Yeah," Kanda answered gruffly.

"Where are you?" Komui demanded fiercely, "We've had reports that you were missing, and there's some very distressed-"

"Kanda?!" Hermione's voice cut in, "Is Harry and Ron there with you?! Are they-"

Another scream sliced the air as Ron was tortured, and Hermione's voice turned hysterical,

"Who was that?! _What is going on-_"

"Excuse me," Komui returned, sounding slightly urgent, "Please explain what's going on."

"We don't have much time," Harry scooted closer, and he heard Hermione calling his name distantly, "We... we made a mistake, I'm really sorry, but we've been captured, and we're here at Malfoy Manor. I don't think we can apparate here, but if we can get off the grounds, then maybe-"

"But do you think you can?" Komui sounded worried, but very professional.

"I... I don't know," Harry faltered, "But we have to move, they've got Ron and there's others here – Luna, Hermione, Luna's here – and I don't know how much time until-"

"What else did you take, what else? _Answer me_! Crucio!" Bellatrix was screaming again, and it was followed by Ron's own screams. He thought he could hear Hermione crying from somewhere behind Komui.

"Nothing, nothing, we've never gone inside your vault!" Ron was almost pleading now, "We only found it, just found it, we don't even know if it's real!"

"Likely story!" Bellatrix screeched.

"But we can know for sure!" Came Lucius's voice, "Draco, fetch the goblin, he'll tell us if it is real or not!"

Harry's eyes went wide and he hurriedly, hissed a goodbye as he shoved the golem in his jacket, briefly remembering Timcampy and feeling his anger grow again.

"They mustn't know the swords real!" Harry exclaimed, "They can't know-"

And his fears were confirmed as he heard footsteps not far from the cellar door, and then he heard Draco's voice call shakily,

"Stand back. Line up against to back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"

They did so, and then Draco stepped inside, wand out in front of him. The light from behind him lit up the whole cellar, and Harry saw not just Luna, but Mr. Ollivander and Dean as well as a goblin tied up with welts across his face. Draco undid the goblins bindings and bodily dragged him out. Just as the cellar door shut again, there was a loud crack that echoed slightly.

"Harry Potter," A small voice quivered, "Dobby has come to rescue you."

The voice was so unexpected, it took a long moment for the words to sink in.

"Dobby?" He repeated incredulously.

"Yes, sir," The house elf replied as he snapped his fingers and globes of light appeared, blinking into existence, revealing Dobby's shaking form. Harry caught sight of Kanda's truly startled expression and stuffed it away to remember later.

"You can disapparate out of here?" He asked urgently, taking the golem from his shirt and handing it back to Kanda, who, despite being half covered in blood, looked quite healthy. Dobby nodded.

"With humans with you?" Another nod.

"Okay. Then, Dobby, can you take Luna, Dean, and Mr. Ollivander to... to," he thought, where to? Not the Order, if Dobby even knew where that was, but not the burrow either. Then he remembered that Ron had mentioned where he and Hermione had stayed when they were separated, "Can you take them to Bill and Fluer's house?"

Dobby nodded again, and his ears flopped around a little at the motion.

"Do that. Then come back. Alright, Dobby? Can you do that?"

"Of course, Harry Potter," The elf whispered. He went to Ollivander, who was barely conscious, and then held out a hand toward Luna and Dean, who seemed much more aware now.

"Harry, we want to help you!" Luna whispered with a slightly curious glance over at Kanda.

"We can't leave you here," Dean agreed.

"Go!" Harry replied with a shake of his head, "We'll see you there, I promise."

Both of them shuffled over reluctantly, and Harry was glad. He'd been worried about both of them, but now they would be safe and protected as well as they could be. The crack followed their departure, and from above, Ron stopped mid scream.

"What was that? Did you hear that?" Lucius shouted, "What was that noise in the shelter?"

The light had gone with Dobby, but Harry could still see Kanda stiffen slightly.

"Wormtail! Go and check the cellar!"

He looked toward his partner once more, and though he couldn't see the other's face, he saw the motion he made with his hands. Harry nodded, standing as he heard just the barest whisper of fabric.

"Stand back" Wormtail called moments later, "Stand away from the door. I am coming in."

The door flew open and for a moment, Peter stared into the apparently almost empty room. Harry stood right before him, standing proudly. And then a shadow fell on his back, and he turned very slowly.

Only to see Kanda standing in the doorway, his eyes flashing gold.

One hit sent the Death Eater flying back and into Harry's hold. Harry held firmly, struggling to use his full strength against a grown man. He inwardly thanks all those training sessions as he held solidly. A hand descended over Wormtail's mouth, and then Lucius called down,

"What is it, Wormtail?"

"Nothing!" Harry called back, pitching his voice as well as he could and imitating the wheezy-ness, "It's all fine!"

There was no reply, but it didn't sound as if anyone was moving above, and Harry hoped they had fallen for it. Wormtail was still struggling frantically, his eyes rolling around in his panic. His silver artificial hand twisted painfully around and broke from Harry's grip with unnatural strength, wrapping around his throat.

Harry knew better than to aim at the silver fingers, so instead he reacted the only way he knew how: By aiming to win, and there was only one way to win.

His knuckles slammed into the other's windpipe with all his strength even as Kanda's wrapped around the back of the other's neck. It was obvious that the man suddenly couldn't breath, and it probably didn't help his panic when Kanda disarmed him of his wand and harry slipped right through his fingers. Literally.

When Wormtail slid to the ground, face purple, and then stopped moving, Harry had to ruthlessly squash his shock and disgust.

He'd just killed a man.

The action to crush the other's windpipe had been automatic, he hadn't thought about it even a little before he did it. He didn't know whether to be angry with his training or to be glad that someone like Wormtail was gone from this world. He found it almost funny all of a sudden – the man who had betrayed his parents and killed them indirectly, had died at his hands.

But then Kanda gave him a hard look, and Harry looked at the blood and remembered. He had no time whatsoever to think about it, to dwell on it. He'd have to save it for later. He was handed the wand and he tested a spell just to be sure that he could use it. It wasn't nearly as strong as his wand, but it would do.

They turned toward the cellar door and took a deep breath. Then came a terrible scream from Ron and he quickly took the lead. He had no time to waste.

__--*--__

A/N: I think it killed me a little inside to make Kanda lose that fight. But as powerful as I think he is, I don't think he could have won. Now, if he's have Mugan, which he can kill people with and deflect magic, that's another story. But he didn't. And that sucks.

Anyways, review! Happy Thanksgiving!


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Who owns a cat? Who owns a cat that is completely unstandable when it's in heat? Mine is. She broke my keyboard by spilling water on it, broke a big glass etching that took me hours to make by tripping and falling, knocked a bunch of things over including my drawing things, and then wouldn't stop meowing the whole time. All of that happened in less than five hours in the middle of the night.

Sometimes, I really dislike cats. They don't even know when they're being punished. Or when they do something wrong. Dogs are so much better...

Uh, sorry. Anyways, one with the story!

__--*--__

The drawing room door was partially ajar when Harry and Kanda reached it. Inside was Bellatrix standing over the goblin, Griphook, who held Gryffindor's sword in his hands. Ron was just a couple of feet away, and wasn't moving.

"Well?" Bellatrix demanded, "Is it the true sword?"

Harry waited anxiously. He thought he sensed a little bit of hesitation from the goblin, but a moment later, it said,

"No. It is fake."

"Are you sure?" Bellatrix glared at him, her eyes alight, "Quite sure?"

"Yes."

Relief covered her face. She relaxed, tension draining from her.

"Good," She flicked her wrist, and a deep cut opened across Griphook's face. He dropped with a yell, holding his face. She kicked him aside. "And now, we will call the Dark Lord!"

Harry had a moment where time seemed to slow, and he thought about what would happen if Voldemort was called now, and so when he burst into the room, he did it knowing the possible consequences. He lunged for her, and made an obscure hand motion with his right hand. He didn't get to play leader very often anymore, definitely not to the exorcists, but he knew the most right now. He knew, for instance, that Narcissa wasn't Marked, but Lucius was, and so he'd motioned for Kanda to focus on that man instead.

Bellatrix's face had twisted with surprise and confusion for only a brief moment before she had brought her wand up, leveling off a spell. Harry shifted his foot work and the spell brushed by his face with a subtle heat. He had Wormtails wand in his hand, and he felt the magic rise to his fingertips as he cried,

"Stupify!"

It did not hit her, for she use a non-verbal defense spell. He didn't mind, because that wasn't really his aim. He slid into her personal space, grabbing her wrist when she tried to strike out with her silver knife. She let out a low sort of cry, though it probably wasn't from the strong grip he used, grinding her bones together. She twisted her fingers instead, at the same time as she fired a crucio.

He couldn't straight dodge the spell because the goblin was right behind him, and normally, he wouldn't be able to do anything at all anyway because of the almost point-blank range. He was grateful that his wasn't 'normally'.

His quick reflexes had him jerking the hand holding the knife back, then knocking the wand aside. The spell went marginally off course, and he took a step back, bending down and grabbing Griphook and sliding several feet away.

He had to duck another spell from none other than Draco. The boy was shaking and couldn't hold his wand straight. He felt a distinct pity then, for the Malfoy he'd gone to school with. He thought that maybe, in another life, they might have even been friends. Such as if he'd never met Ron.

He covered the goblin in the same moment he fired a Protego over Ron, blocking Bellatrix's grab for him. He was barely moving, but he was still breathing.

He took only a brief moment to glance in Kanda's direction. The exorcist was holding his own. In fact, Lucius was already out cold, and he was steadily maneuvering his way around Narcissa to where Mugen lay by Scabior's dead body.

He was half carrying Griphook as he danced between the spells fired at him. He thought that it was fortunate that spells were quick, but that he was quicker. Where as Bellatrix was a powerful witch, Draco was much more hesitant and afraid, and Harry wondered if the other regretted his position. While he dodged between them, he worked the cloak out from under his jacket, which was easy, really, and he pulled it out with a flourish. Another wave and it had settled about his shoulders. It did not yet make him go invisible, because he didn't want it to. He wanted it mainly because it could bounce spells, and that was rather important.

Then he started to push forward, trying to get to Ron's prone body, and started firing rapid spells of his own, even if they were a little repetitive.

Bellatrix knew what he was doing, but then, he wasn't trying to be very subtle. She cried in outrage and refused to budge. He still pushed forward. He wasn't afraid of getting in her face, if he needed it. He wondered if it was good, that he had gotten so comfortable with his hand-to-hand abilities.

He practically felt Draco behind him, and he lunged forward, trying to reach Ron if only for a moment. He wanted to drop the cloak on him, and perhaps Griphook too. Bellatrix slashed at him and he brushed it aside, briefly remembering the long slashed of Mugen instead of this puny knife.

The crack of Dobby's return happened at the same moment Draco managed to get into position and fire a spell. It turned out useless because also at that moment was a great rumbling that almost threw the boy to his knees. A frame on the wall fell and crashed on the ground, the glass breaking into many sharp pieces.

A wall across from Harry, behind Bellatrix, exploded. Stone and other things flew in a windstorm, and Harry spun, firing off a disarming spell at Draco while he had the chance, and settling the cloak over Ron and Griphook. Shrapnel cut into everything around him, and Harry felt the wind sting the cuts that Bellatrix had given hi on his face. He heard a scream and an outcry of fear.

Only when things died out a little did he lift his head. The room was still recognizable, but still greatly damaged. He realized Kanda had been shielded by Dobby, and that he had an indescribably look on his face as he observed the house elf.

Dobby appeared at Harry's side the moment that he caught sight of what, exactly, had blasted the wall apart. Akuma. Many of them, in fact, numerous, hovering just outside the giant hole in the wall. He thought they were all level ones.

"What are you doing?!" Bellatrix screamed, "What are you doing here, you great lumps?! Go back!"

He didn't move his eyes, but he did whisper to Dobby,

"Take these two to Bill and Fleur's too, okay Dobby?"

"What about master Harry Potter, sir?" The house elf asked in concern, eyes wide.

"I'll be fine," He assured, "Go."

Dobby did. Ron and Griphook disappeared with another crack, and he slowly edged backwards. Not out of fear, but because he wanted a solid wall at his back so that he didn't have to worry about someone sneaking up behind him. He passed Malfoy on the way. The boy was sitting, sprawled out, eyes wide in unadulterated fear. He didn't move as Harry creeped behind him.

A quick survey showed that he couldn't see Lucius, who was probably underneath some rubble. Narcissa was wounded at the hip, though, and was standing awkwardly to stand at all. Kanda had his eyes on the akuma – he was blatantly ignoring her, and Harry got the impression that while that angered her, she knew when to accept her good graces and stay quiet.

"Well?!" Bellatrix screamed at them again, "What are you waiting for? Nobody ordered you to come here!"

It was a level two that lowered itself before her, appeared from somewhere overhead,

"_Innocence," _it hissed. Harry understood then. They'd come not because they were ordered, but because they sensed the Innocence here, Mugen, and it wasn't like Bellatrix or even Voldemort was their true masters anyway.

The akuma, with a large head and a grotesque pair of eyes, looked around. It landed on Kanda, and the exorcist knew he had but a moment. He lunged forward, and barely managed to shove his hand between the glass littered over Mugen, yanking it out, before akuma bullets rained.

Harry lunged forward, throwing his cloak over himself as well as Draco, fighting the reaction that Draco was an enemy and might try something dirty. The boy was obviously too afraid to do anything, and e was proved right as the other did nothing but sit there.

Bullets rained down around him and on him, and he threw a protective barrier around Kanda to block most of the bullets, though as the onslaught continued, it began to visibly crack. The bullets sounded like a storm, and after a few moments the sounds blended together until it was one continuous, thunderous, sound.

When it stopped and the dust started to settle, Harry found that everything was destroyed. There were holes riddle around them, and he wasn't sure how stable the floor still was. He caught sight of Bellatrix, falling into ash as the poison took effect. Kanda caught his eye and sent a nod just as the shielding charm finally shattered like glass.

Then Kanda started for the hole, and jumped out of it to start hacking at the akuma hovering there. Harry saw Narcissa rising carefully then, reaching out to steady herself. She caught sight of them, and it was obvious she wanted to go to her son, but she didn't seem able to. It was then that Draco suddenly started to struggle violently, tearing from his grip and running to his mother in worry. Harry watched for a moment to be sure that she hadn't been hit with any of the akuma bullets, then turned back.

He felt a little regret then. He kind of wished that the Innocence in his cloak gave him some sort of offensive ability. He couldn't help Kanda at all aside from sending out protection spells and charms. After a moment, he moved instead toward Narcissa and Draco. Both watched him with obvious mistrust and extreme dislike. He didn't much care about their opinions.

"Where's my wand?" He demanded. He scanned the wreckage with one eye towards the akuma. They were all quite focused on Kanda. Perhaps the Innocence in his cloak was muffled to their senses because of the magical properties it had? He wasn't sure, but he wasn't about to take it at face value.

"I do not know," Narcissa answered stiffly, "I assume that Scabior still has it."

She was probably in pain. The wound in her hip looked to be, at least, and it might even be serious, he couldn't be sure. Her robes had been arranged over it carefully, and only the hole below it and the large, dark, wet blood stain covering the area and slowly widening was his only clue. Draco was obviously more than concerned, his lips moving as if he were talking to himself, even though he made no sound. His face was the whitest that Harry had ever seen a person, and he moved toward where he'd seen Scabior's body.

Narcissa muttered a spell lowly, and he glanced quickly to see it was just something to stop the bleeding. Draco was muttering reassurances and questions.

"Mother, the creatures... we must round them up, put them back or He..._He__..._will-" Draco's words were choked off as the boy imagined the horrors that probably awaited them. He was also looking around frantically, scanning the floor, no doubt searching for his father.

"Draco," She murmured softly, resigned, but her son wasn't hardly listening. As he continued, Harry knew that it was only Narcissa who knew and understood that there was nothing they could do.

He found the wands then, thankfully unharmed, and as he stooped to pick them up, he said loudly to stop his former rival's continuous fearful words,

"You can't control them," He looked over at them in time to see Draco wince fearfully, and it took a moment for Harry to realize that the flinch was in reaction to both the words, and to _him_. "Akuma will not listen to any of you. You should have known that before you decided to follow the Dark Lord – or did you know it, and risk everything anyway?"

He received no answer, not that he expected one, and then discovered something unexpected. He almost stepped on it – bending down, he moved the rubble away to find the fallen Lucius, made of some kind of hard material. He realized that it was the result of the poison as he moved the rubble and Lucius's whole right side collapsed into ash.

He paused. He bowed his head briefly, for all his dislike for the man, and moved away. He didn't wand to listen, but he heard it anyway as the other two in the room become aware of the reason behind his sharp retreat. He wondered if they would blame him; it was a depressing thought, but he felt more saddened by the Dark Lord's actions and followers than anything else.

Then another explosion rocked the earth harshly, and he became aware of two things. The first was the lowering of a level three akuma – which was a level above what he could handle very easily – as it laughed at him mockingly. It was followed by several others. They had probably finally sensed the Innocence he had. He heard more than saw Draco and Narcissa's terror, and he let his cloak flow out behind him. He wasn't too worried about himself, but he didn't wish death on the two here still alive. Particularly not on Draco, annoying and misguided he may have been.

The second thing was the sword that suddenly flew through the akuma directly in front of him, large and powerfully, and he recognized it immediately. He wasn't quite quick enough to get himself to dodge though, and he became aware of a slight chill passing through him as the sword impaled him and then dug into the ground directly behind him. He heard Draco let out a shrill scream.

He, on the other hand, twitched violently because he knew that he was unharmed, and that the experience still creeped him out something terrible.

Allen leapt through the resulting explosion, landing with a flourish and in a kneeling position. Harry thought the other almost looked kind of like he was praying. The exorcist struck his hand out, and his sword, his other arm, flew right back through Harry and into his hand.

Harry ran a hand over his chest bewilderedly, twitching again. He watched as Allen used two swings of his sword to destroy the other three akuma than had hovered there, and then turn to him with a wide friendly smile,

"Are you alright, Harry?"

"I am, but please don't do that again," He replied with a small smile and a shake of his head, "It never fails to creep me out."

"Your face," Allen observed as he walked into the room for a few paces, "Are there any other wounds?"

"No," Harry reassured the other, running a hand over the long and deep scratches that Bellatrix had given him, "How did you find us here?"

"Hermione knew the general area of Malfoy Manor," The other turned his back towards him, "I tracked you from there. I'll warn you as well – she's very upset. Where is Ron?"

"Somewhere safe," Harry watched in silence as Allen went quiet, and a moment later the opening of the arc rose in a grand white light. Moments later, Lavi had dove through it, looking around wildly and shaking his head,

"When you get into trouble, Harry, you sure know how to do it right."

"Gee, thanks," He replied with a roll of his eyes, "You know me. Trouble is my middle name."

"It should be," Lavi agreed, turning toward the battle and giving a mock salute as Lenalee appeared behind him, "Ta ta, I have to go make sure Yu doesn't get himself killed."

Harry could have sworn he heard a distant roar, and that the explosion of the akuma nearest the entrance wasn't entirely on accident.

Lavi disappeared into the large crown of machinal bodies. Lenalee looked at Harry in concern, and Harry couldn't help but wonder if the girl was here to fight. A small part of him hoped so; He'd always wondered how, exactly, her Innocence worked and how well she could use them. Then she smiled,

"Brother was very concerned. Hermione as well. You should hurry back."

Then she had her feet covered by large, elaborate boots, and she appeared to fly into the fight. Allen didn't immediately follow, eyes catching onto the forms somewhere behind Harry. He promptly walked by, approaching them cautiously.

"My condolences," Allen offered to Narcissa and Draco, "You must be Narcissa and Draco."

"What do you want?" Narcissa asked, her body tense and her face stony, "What more do you want to take from us?"

"What kind of question is that?" Harry wondered as he also approached, "What you've lost is hardly more than what you've taken from many other people. You're Slytherin. You should be able to recognize _consequences _and _equal payment_."

Draco looked sufficiently cowed, and that was something strange to Harry, who had thought it would have started an argument. Narcissa didn't react visibly, only said,

"Another Slytherin concept is _looking out for oneself_, Potter, and that is always what we have done. Not everything we have done was out of choice, but for survival."

"And that's worked out so well," Harry replied, a little bit of his old hot-tempered self emerging as he sent a pointed glance at what remained of Lucius. Allen sent him a very stern _look_ that calmed him instantly though, and he bowed his head in an apology that he only half meant.

"We are only human," Allen whispered about the destruction behind them, "That means we all have the chance to change. You too, still have that chance."

"Are you trying to '_save_' us?" Narcissa asked with a little bit of a sneer in her voice, and Harry was privetly impressed. Even now, Allen tried to save everyone he possibly could. The only one's that were probably outside his help was the Noah.

"I cannot save you," Allen replied confidentially, "You have to save yourself."

Harry thought he saw something flicker in the womans eyes, but he didn't know what he saw. Contempt? Respect? It could have been anywhere in between.

"You are who you make yourself out to be," Allen stated, and Draco seemed almost mesmerized by the words, "Akuma cannot be controlled by anyone but the Noah, and you are not Noah. Your Dark Lord will fall, and if it's not by his own foolishness for trying, then it will be by Harry."

A sidelong look caught Harry, and he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed, and glad, and even proud. He didn't think the other two were completely convinced – if they were, then he _would_ be concerned.

Another string of explosions and then Harry remembered the others waiting. He called,

"Dobby," and then the house elf was at his side.

"Master Harry Potter, sir, is ready to go?"

"Almost, Dobby, almost," He nodded slightly, getting a large eyeful of Allen's absolutely amusing reaction to the creature beside him. He spoke to the exorcist then, making sure to remember to be careful with his words,

"Ron and some other's were taken to... a safe place. They weren't all in the best shape. I need to go there."

"I understand," Allen glanced back to the ark entrance, "I don't think you should go without Hermione though, and I think it'd also be best if one of us stayed with you. Will you stay until we go back through, tell Komui, and then we can go?"

Harry honestly wanted to go the Bill's _now_, but he knew better than to be impatient. He agreed quietly, and he waited until every last akuma were gone and the other three were back before him. The one in the worst shape was Kanda, having been out there a fair bit longer, but even then he wasn't too bad off. Lenalee hesitated to leave Narcissa and Draco behind in the wreckage, but there was little choice, really. They disappeared into the ark as one group, Dobby following Harry's heels unsurely.

Before Harry knew it, they were back in Headquarters, and he was aware that the was a small cheer going around.

Then he had an armful of Hermione and quickly lost track of the things around him.

"You stupid-!" She started, stopped, sobbed, and then started again, "What did you _do_, you reckless-!"

"I'm sorry to worry you," Harry murmured, hesitatingly hugging her back, "It was a mistake."

When she pulled back, her eyes were red rimmed. She looked around, and bit her lip.

"Where's Ron?" Her voice was tight, and when Harry didn't immediately answer, admittedly distracted by Komui waving at him, her eyes went wide in horror.

"No... don't tell me..." She looked like she'd seen everything around her fall to pieces, and it took a moment for Harry to realize his mistake,

"No! Sorry, Hermione, he's-"

She seemed to take the beginning of his sentence to mean something else, because she covered her mouth, tears welling up and almost falling to her knees.

"Ron is... he's..."

"Ron is _fine_," He replied exasperatedly, and she stared uncomprehendingly, "Well, not exactly fine, but no long term effects or anything, I promise. We're on our way to see him. Him, Luna, and Dean."

She didn't seem to know how to take this news, really, and he rubbed her back when she started crying in relief. Komui made his way over when he thought it was a little safer.

"Allen told me your plans," the supervisor started glancing at Dobby In hardly-concealed fascination, "I would feel better if you took them with you in case it becomes long term. I want you to keep in contact with me."

"Of course," He nodded politely, "Thank you."

"For what?" The man seemed genuinely curious.

"For all your help."

"My pleasure," Komui smiled, which only widened when Lenalee came to stand at his side.

"I heard you're leaving again," She announced, and when Harry nodded, she gave the brightest, friendliest smile he'd ever seen, "Good luck. I hope to see you again soon, and if not soon, then later. You'll do your best to come back, right?"

It seemed less like a question and more like a demand, even through her warm smile.

"Yes," He promised, "I'll miss this place, even if I'm not even gone long."

She nodded, and then left to go pester Allen into a similar promise.

Before long, Lavi, Kanda, and Allen were all with him and ready to go. They, or really it was mostly Kanda, seemed reluctant to touch Dobby at all, but soon they all felt the feeling of being squesed into a very small space before it let up and they were standing just off the edges of a forest before a house.

There was brief movement – it wasn't exactly _easy_ to see because the sun had bone down quite a bit and now only a wash of deep reds and purples lit up the sky. Then a spell shot down the slight hill and forced them all to dodge.

"Who's there?!" He realized it was Bill, though his voice was a little hard to recognize because he hadn't heard it in so long.

"It's us!" Hermione yelled back loudly, "Hermione, and Harry, and friends!"

There was a brief silence before the house lit up again and Bill appeared. Upon seeing them, his face broke out in such relief...

Harry led the way behind Hermione, who was bounding up the way ahead of them. Then he was being grabbed up in a hug by Bill and making sure he still remembered the exorcists – not that the exorcists were very easy to forget, because Harry didn't think he'd ever forget them. They were quickly pulled inside the house to find Fleur waiting for them. She also grabbed them up in a hug, including Allen and Lavi this time, and gave Kanda a fond pat on the shoulders than annoyed him slightly. In the living room was Ron, sitting on the couch looking decidedly pale and shaky. Luna was talking to him animatedly, pausing with a surprised 'oh!' when they entered. Ron tried to stand abruptly, and almost pitched forward onto his face.

It was while watching Ron and Hermione's tearful reunion that his vision swam. At first he tried to push it away, but that worked for all of one minute. He hardly heard Lavi's concerned question as agony bloomed behind his eyelids, and then he was suddenly standing _in front of an iron writ gate, looking past it and at the half destroyed mansion and feeling rage curdling in his gut. He glided inside the grounds, approaching and using several spells to tell him that yes, all the akuma were gone, and that meant that the _despicable brat _and his exorcist friends had been here. That they had been here recently, _very_ recently, and that __**nobody had told him**__. _

"_My my," His companion whistled at the destruction lighting a cigarette, a muggle invention no less, and laughing, "The most interesting things happen whenever you turn around."_

_It wasn't funny, not at all, and it was infuriating that the man __**dared**__ to laugh not only in his presence but to laugh __**at**__ him. He would kill him in but a minute if he thought it would be effective at all. _

_His rage deepened when he found out that out of those here, only two were left alive. Lucius was dead, even, and only his wife and son remained. They had taken refuge just outside the room that had been destroyed the most, and he demanded in his coldest voice,_

"_What happened here? And where is Bellatrix?"_

_The story took ice and deposited it in his very bones. The ice melted and turned to lava after he learned of the escape. Lucius and Bellatrix were both dead, and a substantial amount of his pawns were dead. In the Potter's escape he'd taken the prisoners he'd already had, two children, the wandmaker, and the goblin. It was __worse than a slap in the face – the boy had gotten into his stronghold, killed a great deal of pawns and an almost trusted Death Eater, and then escaped with his prisoners. _

_His companions, the Noah, laughed again,_

"_What will you do then?" He asked._

_And he himself was more than angry, was raging, and he felt it take form as he gave a sharp whip of his wand. Narcissa fell victim to his anger, and she dropped dead with glassy eyes. Her pathetic son trebled violently and let out a sharp cry and jerked as another twist of his wrist sent a gaping wound to be inflicted on the boys chest. He didn't move on the ground, but he wasn't dead. _

_He walked away, toward his own chambers, plotting the worst possible death he could think of for the Boy-Who-Refused-To-Learn-His-Place._

__--*--__

A/N: I read a couple articals today about theories of Draco being a werewolf. They were pretty convincing, haha, and interesting. I can't help but wonder how true they are? Somebody should ask Rowling in an interview XD

This chapter... I didn't like so much. I don't know why. I think it's less that I dislike it, and more that it's... just there...

In other news! Has anyone read the new DGM chapter?! I really wish it came out more often than once a month... that's twelve a year! That's not enough... unless _maybe_, if it were as long as FMA chapters were, then it would be much, much better.

Anyways, hope everyone liked it, and please review! Totally my biggest motivation.


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: I've been reading a whole lot lately – a whole lot of fanfiction, that is. One HP fic in particular. I think it's the longest one I've ever tried to read, and part of the largest series (For a fic, at least. It's seven, one for each of Harry's years.) The upside is that it's all done, so I don't have to worry about being left hanging. Downside... it's so long~!

But after reading so much, I was given a slightly different light and an idea or two... let's see if it affected anything at all, haha.

__--*--__

Harry sighed almost wistfully as he watched the sky. It was bright, almost like it was a good omen for the future, shining down on his face. But he knew better than that. It was a nice day, though, and it relaxed him. A heavy thump caught his attention, and he back down to see Allen pinning Ron down at the end of a carefully executed flip. The redhead was winded, and Allen clapped him on the back a couple times in order to catch his breath again.

Hermione sat at the base of one of the bare trees, arguing with Lavi quietly about whether Crumple Horned Snorkacks could possibly exist. It was an interesting sight, how they sat next to each other and leaned over a book each their own, both eyes alight with fierce determination to prove they were right. Harry wondered if Lavi would have been Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

He saw Ron notice how close they were and scowl, putting extra force behind his next attempt to hit Allen.

Kanda sat across the clearing from him, meditating silently. It was a bit of a surprise that he was here at all, since he seemed to take off whenever he had the chance to be alone. Not that he had anywhere to really go now, though. Luna had last been with Fleur, and Dean had been exploring, sometimes switching his attention between helping Bill, to Fleur, to Harry. Mr. Ollivander was still resting, as he had been for the past couple days when they'd come here, as was Griphook. Harry had thought it only right that they got to rest after what they had been through.

Ollivander had already been kind enough to confirm that yes, the Dark Lord had been searching for the Elder Wand, much to Hermione's disbelief. Harry had already asked the goblin for his help in Harry's newest plan – breaking into Gringotts, to search Bellatrix's vault for what would surely be a Horcrux. He had yet to receive as answer yet, but that was alright. They'd been very busy lately, what with Hermione studying every possible thing she could, and Ron demanding to receive some similar training that Harry had had. The Weasly had changed, subtly, after the torture he'd gone through, but he was pretty sure that it was mostly a good change.

What caught his attention the most, though, was the head of white-blond hair sitting several feet away, curled in a blanket even though the weather wasn't all too cold anymore.

Draco Malfoy. Who would have thought.

After the vision Harry had seen, he had worried everyone by suddenly apparating. Allen, who had still somehow managed to see his vision once again, had reacted quick enough to catch his shoulder, and both had been transported not inside Malfoy Manor, but a couple yards outside of it. Draco, wounded and bleeding heavily, had panicked and run as far from his home as he could, carrying his mothers body on his back before collapsing from the strain.

He'd been even more surprised when he found himself standing above Draco and found a familiar round, gold golem fluttering about the other's head.

Timcampy had been ecstatic to see them, nudging Harry's cheek and biting Allen's ear before rubbing against his hair fondly. Harry hadn't known the little golem could put itself back together, and he couldn't help feel guilty that he'd left it behind before. He was forgiven though, and he'd proceeded to take both bodies, one dead one alive, back to Bill's 'Shell Cottage'. He'd gotten quite the scolding for disappearing like that without warning anybody.

Draco had since refused to say a word.

Sometimes he offered a weak sneer, or a tired glare, but the closest thing to a word was the alarmed noise he'd made when Harry had offered to bury Narcissa. The other hadn't taken it well, and had probably thought something along the lines of his mother not being buried anywhere but in a family plot or at least somewhere that wasn't at the home of a blood traitor.

Ron had been offended, but he'd been a little less hostile than Harry would had thought. Bill and Fleur were nothing but sympathetic, even when their food was pushed away, and Hermione had been vexed but understanding. Allen had been keeping a close watch on the Malfoy – you'd think that Draco would know better not to attempt making anyone into an akuma, since he probably knew how it worked, but desperate people do desperate things, and Allen didn't want to leave it up to chance.

"But there's no _proof_!" Hermione's voice rose a little as she threw her hands in the air, "It's ridiculous!"

"You didn't really have any proof that the Elder wand was real either, did you?" Lavi argued, lacking heat or anger, just a pointed confidence, "But now we _know_ it's real. What makes you think that the Snorkack's aren't, just because you've never seen one?"

"Because they're silly!" Hermione's face flushed a little, probably as she remembered her adamant denial that the wand was real, "Just because you don't have proof doesn't mean it _is_ real! That's like saying that just because you don't have proof of magic, like muggles, means it exists!"

"But it does," The redhead pointed out with a blink.

"Well, yes, _we_ know that, but that don't!" She exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Sometimes that's a religion thing though," He replied, "And who knows, maybe those people have seen it, and your ministry just missed a chance to 'obliviate' someone."

"You can't say that for certain though, not of every single person who believes in it-"

Ron received a blow to the solar plexus, and he wheezed slightly. In his frustration though, he just struck out anyway, surprising Allen who had been ready to wait for the other to catch his breath, unlike if it had been Kanda. Ron never landed a hit, and that only fueled his frustration.

Harry covered a small smile, glancing once again at Draco. He'd never honestly liked the other – there was so much between them, and he couldn't think of a single good thing there. In fact, he'd downright disliked and almost hated Malfoy for the past couple years. He remembered having that little obsession in thinking the other was the half-blood prince for a while, but his opinion seemed to have mellowed out slightly. The only way Harry could have ever seen Malfoy changing was with a huge blow, and the return of Voldemort had been one of those. Now the other wasn't as snarky, or as domineering, and he just lost his parents.

If there was one thing that would lighten Harry's opinion of Malfoy, it was that.

Then there was the fact that grudges like that seemed like so long ago now...it seemed petty to hate Malfoy now, now that he had the world literally on his shoulders. Not that all that dislike was gone, but he was willing to let bygones be bygones if Malfoy was.

Just say the word and mean it, he thought.

Ron hit the ground again, breathing hard, and coughed a few times. He lay there for several long moments, catching his breath and rubbing his collar bone, then he turned his head,

"Jeeze, Harry, how long have you been doing this? It seems impossible." Harry wasn't fooled by the slightly whiny tone, because he could see the steel glint of determination.

"A while now," He admitted instead, mostly speaking because he'd seen Malfoy's eyes glance in his direction, possibly curious, "Almost everyday, really, ever since I went to the Headquarters, unless I was in the medical ward."

"And he trained with Kanda, and _that_ is what I thought was impossible," Allen added with a small grin.

"Which part?" Lavi but in, "That Kanda can be patient, or that Harry survived more or less unharmed?"

"Both," Allen replied nonchalantly, "Since, you know, Kanda can be so inconsiderate."

"Are you trying to pick a fight, beansprout?" Kanda spoke up, not moving or opening even one eye.

"More or less?" Hermione wondered aloud, concerned but lacking the condemnation her voice usually had whenever the topic of Harry learning from the exorcists came up. She seemed to have accepted that it was a necessary thing. "Why is it one of you always manage to phrase everything to be so worrisome?"

"It's talent," Lavi crowed, puffing out his chest, "Only the best can make something small sound death defying."

"You sound like one of the twins," Ron grumbled, "And the world doesn't need another Fred or George."

"I don't think it could handle it," Harry agreed with a smile, "Imagine, a world where the Weasly Twins were the Weasly Triplets."

"I don't know," Hermione tilted her head to the side as she observed the exorcist sitting next to her, "He has the hair... he could pass off as a Weasly relative easy, I think."

A small, quiet snort came from Malfoy. Harry glanced over in slight hope – it almost seemed like a miracle that the expression on the other's face wasn't a sneer of contempt, but just a tired roll of the eyes. Nobody else seemed to have noticed.

"And he did already once, remember?" She added, "At the wedding."

"That's right," Ron mused as he finally sat up, "I had Aunt Muriel telling me at the wedding about how she thought she'd finally seen a decent looking Weasly at least once in her life."

Malfoy's eyes lit with non-polite amusement; Probably thinking that there really weren't any decent looking Weasly's. Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron, and Harry all laughed while Lavi tried to decide whether to take the whole thing as a compliment or not.

"Hey Harry," Ron then said, "Why don't you have a go? You haven't done it lately, right? I want to see how good you are."

"You seen me do it before," Harry waved dismissively, not up to sparring when his life wasn't on the line if there were people watching.

"Yeah, but not completely. I've only seen a little, and the other time I was kind of preoccupied, don't you think?"

Well, yeah, of course he did. The other had only been tortured, after all.

"Come on mate, it couldn't hurt..."

"Not anything but me," he grumbled. He was momentarily distracted by Kanda standing from his meditation, giving Allen a slight _look_.

"You could've just _asked_, you brute," Allen mumbled in faint annoyance. He then shifted off to the side, near Malfoy and across from Lavi, "And he doesn't have to do it if he doesn't have to."

"Says you," Kanda replied easily, motioning Ron aside. The redhead did so quickly, scrambling over to sit on Hermione's free side.

"Yeah, says me," Allen agreed.

"Hurry it up," Kanda ignored his fellow exorcist, waving impatiently at Harry.

Harry felt like asking what would happen if he refused – but he'd had that urge before, and just like then, he ignored it now. He stood instead, shaking his head in something between amusement and exasperation.

They did quick warm ups together, so that they would pull something. Of course, Kanda could heal whatever it was in a fraction of the time Harry could, but it was probably habit. Then they stood apart from each other, separated by a couple feet. Their arena was a bit smaller than usual, but they didn't usually take up much room with the spar either.

He swallowed his nervousness. He didn't like sparing in front of other people. He'd gotten over it at the Headquarters because those looking in were either other exorcists who were checking on his progress, or Komui, who was the whole reason that Harry was probably still alive.

_Or was it actually because of Dumbledore, since he's the one who went to the Black Order in the first place. Him and... Snape..._

He'd forgotten that, and he almost missed the sharp command that meant the match had started. The fist almost tangled in his hair as he ducked, as close as it was. He dodged to the side to avoid a chop, instead snapping out a middle-punch, already executing a kick aimed at the other's knees and meant to break them by the time that his punch was swiped aside. He shifted with his front foot – Kanda had tried to use his position against him after his kick missed and hit the ground by shifting his foot behind Harry's, hoping to trip Harry up at the moment his weight went down. He almost received a palm to the side of his face, probably on his ear, which could have damaged his hearing pretty badly if it'd hit right.

He aimed for the other's eyes with his fingers, feeling a little anxious as he did so. He always did when he aimed for something for could cause some real damage, on the off chance the hit would land. It never did, and it still didn't, so he felt the same wave of cool relief.

He was caught up in the spar. He hadn't realized that he could tune things out quite so completely, unless it was Quidditch. This was definitely not Quidditch, but it almost, almost felt the same. Or, at least, it had the same sort of breathless anticipation and concentration.

Ron watched it like he would watch a game between his two most favorite teams, leaning forward eagerly. He couldn't help being awed and impressed, and perhaps even more determined. Hermione watched with similar concentration, stuck somewhere between horror and impressed. Lavi just grinned lazily, and Allen watched in curiosity. Malfoy watched in badly concealed fascination. He couldn't, for the life of him, compare the boy he'd gone to school with to this boy, the one dancing with a an experienced and skilled fighter.

The two were too different. There was the Potter who was the Boy-Who-Lived, confident and possessing everything he could want; Fame, Fortune, Friends, and loving family, even if they weren't blood related and they were the Weasly's, blood traitors they are. Then there was this one – this tougher, harder, harsher one that had saved his life.

Draco had been watching them all. He was not as incapacitated by his grief as everyone seemed to think he was. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoy's could see the truth in things. They had seen that Voldemort was the way to go in the First War, beaten by a prophesy that Lucius had not known about and had not been able to decide about. They had seen the moment they began to lose the Dark Lord's favor, and they knew when they'd lost it completely. They knew when it became a bad choice, when they were prisoners to their own home and lived in terror.

Draco knew two things. The first was that he now owed a Life Debt – he didn't honestly have to take it as seriously as most did, he could ignore it as long as he wasn't called on it. The second was that this Potter was very much different, very much stronger, and more importantly, so was his ally. Unlike the Noah that the Dark Lord had chosen, the exorcists didn't blatantly hide information or become difficult.

Good allies were the first step toward a win.

Harry sucked in a deep breath as a kick ghosted his side, hoping around and trying the kick the lone leg out from underneath the other. It wasn't so easy, of course not, it never was. Then his fist scraped against the other's shoulder, rubbing his knuckles a little painfully, and he realized it was a trick.

He was pinned then, this time standing up, and none of the tricks he knew could get him out of this one. He sighed and breathed a muffled surrender. He was released then, and his surroundings came swirling back to him.

"That was wicked," Ron nearly whispered, his voice past awed.

"That was... impressive," Hermione admitted reluctantly.

"It was an improvement," Lavi agreed, "Heck, keep going on like this, and I don't know if the Order will want to let you go after all this. I'm sure somebody could figure out about how the cloak works."

His laugh was interrupted by Allen's foot digging into his, and he hissed softly.

"Jeeze, beansprout, I was just joking."

"The names _Allen_."

Harry smiled softly and rolled his neck around a little to get the kinks out. He heard a loud pop that made Hermione wince. She offered to do a spell that would help with what might later be sore muscles, and he agreed. It was about then that he noticed a familiar shape making their way through the trees. Moment's later, Luna appeared in their midst, smiling dreamily.

"Something you need, Luna?" He asked mildly.

"No, not really," She turned her smile to him, "However, Fleur's sent me to tell you that Mr. Griphook wants to talk to you; He's in the smallest bedroom. Must be privet."

"Must be," He mumbled, thanking Hermione quietly, "Thanks Luna."

"No problem," She replied, glancing around idly, "You know, you should wear earmuffs. The Wrackspurts love this time of year, and they're difficult to get rid of once they get into your ears."

Lavi immediately covered his ears, eyes slightly alarmed, and Hermione gave him an annoyed stare. He blinked, realized that this was one of 'those things' that Luna talked about, and lowered his hands with a sheepish smile. Luna made her way over to Malfoy, talking all the while about random things. Still, he must had been pretty dedicated to being quiet if even with Luna's strange talks that usually annoyed the crap out of Malfoy still wasn't getting him to speak. He decided it was safe enough to go on ahead. He wasn't afraid of the other running off. Someone would notice, there was anti-apparition wards in place on the Cottage and the clearing, and there was nowhere for him to go but back to death. Unless, of course, he was willing to risk his parents murderer's wrath in hopes that news of where Potter's been would please him enough to forgive his family of all their misgivings. And it wouldn't be, Harry knew, and he only hoped that Malfoy did as well.

He gave a nod to Fleur as he passed her on the way to the smallest bedroom, bringing with him Ron, Hermione, and the exorcists.

The goblin was where Luna said he'd be – in the smallest of the cottages three bedrooms, which Hermione and Luna used at night. The windows curtains were drawn, throwing the room into a sort of gloomy atmosphere that were at odds with the rest of the right and airy house.

"I have reached my decision, Harry Potter," Griphook said, sitting up and drumming his spindly fingers against the edge of the chair he sat in. "Though the goblins of Gringotts will consider it base treachery, I have decided to help you."

Harry held back his sigh of relief, feeling that if he had someone who knew the bank so well helping his plan, his chances were much increased.

"But only in return... for payment."

"What kind of payment?" He asked, eyes narrowing. He considered offering gold, but decided against it.

"I want the sword," The goblin answered, black eyes glittering, "The sword of Godric Gryffindor."

"I can't give you that. I'm sorry," He answered instantly. There was no doubt in his mind that he couldn't give away the sword. Ron let out a slightly irritated huff that was probably covering up his nervousness.

"Then, we have a problem."

"What if we give you something else?" Ron suggested, "The sword is really important."

"And what have you to give that would make my betrayal worth it? You have no other goblin-made artifacts, correct?"

"No, but-"

"I will do it for the sword. Nothing else."

Silence descended as Harry thought furiously. He needed Griphooks help. That was simple. But if it came down to which he needed more, the sword outweighed the goblin, easy. He caught the look Hermione was giving him; full of concern and worry.

"Griphook," He sighed softly as he looked into the eyes of the other, "Listen. The sword does something that most other things don't – it destroys the things we're hunting down. We can't give it away, or we'll never defeat Voldemort. I can't give it to you. That will _not_ change."

The goblin's eyes glittered still, this time in anger. Harry didn't much care.

"All I can offer you is to give it to you after we're done using it," He continued, "I can promise you on whatever you'd like that I will do my absolute best to get it to you afterwards."

"And when would that be?" The other demanded.

"I don't know," He admitted, "It could be in a couple weeks, or a couple months, or even a couple years."

"If it takes that long, I cannot trust a wizards word," Griphook announced, eyes still narrowed, "There's nothing stopping you from refusing your word after all is said and done – if, indeed, anything is finished in your favor at all."

"Then you will not get the sword at all," Harry touched the hilt hanging at his waist. He took it with him everywhere now, because he didn't want to loose sight of it. He felt distinctly panicky whenever he wasn't sure where it was. He didn't trust the goblin to leave it be, either, if the greedy stares he'd given it were anything to go by. "I would prefer to just work out a deal with you, but I can promise, also, that if you don't take the best I can give you, then you'll get nothing at all. You can either trust my word that I'll give it to you when I can and help us, or you can turn the deal down, and not get the sword as long as I live."

"As long as you live? Is that a threat?" The other hissed.

"I've grown pretty fond of this sword," He denied, "And there's little that I would give it up for. This is worth it, and so I can promise to give it to you, but if not, then I won't give it up."

He didn't like negotiating like this. It made him feel like he was blackmailing someone, and that was never something he liked to do. But everything he said was truth. He meant it when he said he'd give up the sword in return for the help he was asking for, after the war. There was that niggling truth in the back of his mind though; If he was a Horcrux himself, like he was pretty sure he was, then the only way that he knew of to destroy it is death. And if he died, he'd have some trouble giving back the sword, wouldn't he?

"Then I have your word, Harry Potter, that you will give me the sword of Gryffindor if I help you?"

"After I have finished with it, yes," He nodded, hiding his hope.

"Then shake," Griphook held out his hand. They shook hands to seal the deal, and Harry searched the other's face for any sign of misgivings. He could see none, but then, he wasn't exactly skilled in reading people, let alone goblins.

"So, let's begin."

They began the beginning stages of their planning, talking in slow, thoughtful voices. From the very start, Harry realized that it would take a while. Gringotts had many traps, and it was so full of security, getting in was going to be extremely tough. The only way to get out cleanly was if their plan to get _in_ went smoothly and flawlessly. He privately hoped it would be, but he didn't think it would be. He had to make back up plans, just in case it came to force. Of course, that would probably be neigh impossible.

The first issue was the amount of people. The exorcists refused to be left behind, which meant that in addition to the three wizards, there would be six people and one goblin. Just hiding a couple of people would've been hard, and considering how little the exorcists knew about magic, despite all those sessions that they'd been sharing recently in which he taught them about magic, then they might only be good for it if it came down to force.

Their planning begin to stretch into several days, then into several weeks. Harry became aware that he disliked the goblin pretty quickly. He didn't appreciate that Griphook seemed excited by the thought of hurting other wizards when they discussed that it might come down to that.

Their biggest problem of all was that Bellatrix was very much dead. He had to reassure Ron and Hermione of this a couple times, until Timcampy opened its jaws and showed some kind of hologram of the witch being shot many times before crumbling to dust. Hermione and Ron had been shocked, but then mostly just extremely worried, as if second guessing all the things Harry had been through and seen. The fact of the matter was that the Lestranges vault couldn't be accessed through their first plan – to have Hermione use polyjuice to turn into her. Even if the goblins themselves didn't know she was dead, the risk of running into someone else who did was too great.

As time passed, it became very obvious that they were planning something to the others in the household. Nobody approached the exorcist to ask. As it was, they were often absent in the sessions because there was little to contribute. Kanda disappeared several times, while Lavi popped by the most. He was usually deep in a book though. Allen was spotted with Malfoy a lot – Harry was startled when he spotted them himself, and saw Malfoy talking quietly, sometimes sneering, but still talking. He had yet to talk to anyone else.

Then one day, Harry was sitting outside, watching the sky. He'd just finished a rough lesson with Lavi not long before, and had just sat down after his warm-down exercises. He was alone, and it was a little before lunch time, when he was startled by his name being said,

"Potter."

It was none other than Malfoy, standing stock still very near him, just a few feet away, his face carefully blank and indifferent. His wound had been healing very nicely and now looked very much normal.

"Yes, Malfoy?" He resisted the urge to say something demeaning.

"You are planning something," Draco stated, not asked, "What is it?"

"I can't tell you," Harry answered calmly. The other sneered familiarly,

"Why, because I'm me?"

"While that would usually be a good excuse, because you _are_ you, that's not it," He looked at the sky again. He'd been learning how to appreciate things like that lately, "I can't tell Bill or Fleur either, when or if they ask. Or anyone else, for that matter."

There was silence for a moment, and he was puzzled why the other hadn't left yet.

"Why... did you want to know?"

He eyed the other cautiously. He'd never forgotten that the other could still cause some serious harm to them. A well placed message at the right time could be disastrous, even if Malfoy didn't know exactly where they are. At the moment, though, the boy looked distinctly uncomfortable, and a flash of unsure anger passed his gaze.

"...We were treated like slaves in our own homes," Draco finally said, and Harry was so startled that the other would _ever_ admit to anything person to him, that he sat up straighter and listened intently, "Not that that's any of your buisiness. But that white haired boy... _Walker_... has been telling me about akuma. I... _hate_... them. And I hate... _Him..."_

For a moment, Harry thought the other meant that he hated Allen, but then he realized that he was talking about Voldemort instead. And it made sense. The Dark Lord was responsible for both of his parents deaths, and personally so for his mother.

"Glad you've come around," He said instead of the many other things he thought at first.

"And I still don't like you either, Potter," Draco continued, "But I'm willing to strike a truce for now."

"What caused the change of heart?"

"You'll destroy Him or die trying," His stare was intense, "I'll lend you a hand to destroy him in return for what he's done to me. I'm the only Malfoy left to do so."

Harry paused in slight thought before standing from the spot he'd sat in, watching the other thoughtfully. He could see the other still feared the thought of Voldemort, but there was intense hate there too. The boy had always been particularly proud, but now his proud family was nearly nonexistent. He could see that the boy that had been about in their school days was still there, but darker and changed.

Kind of like himself.

"Alright," He nodded, holding out his hand, "But Malfoy, if I start to think for one moment that you're going to betray us..."

"I can say the same to you," Instead of flinching away from touching him or doing his best to make contact as little as possible, Draco took his hand firmly. "I couldn't even if I wanted to anyway."

Harry pondered that as he let his hand fall back to his side, watching the other. Draco seemed completely serious about this. He was relieved, he had to admit.

"You're planning to get into Bellatrix's vault," Draco then said, knocking Harry out of his relaxed state.

"Have you been eavesdropping?" He demanded angrily.

"No, Potter, I have not," The other rolled his eyes, "You all warded the room every time anyway. But she was frantic when she thought you'd been there, and I saw your face when she acted that way. There's something in there that you're looking for, I imagine, and you're planning to get it."

"Congratulations, you're correct," Harry frowned slightly, "So what?"

"So you can't get in because she's dead," Draco stated.

"What's your point?" Harry shook his head, faintly annoyed. It seemed just like the other, to make getting the information he was clearly wanting to give difficult.

"The Malfoy vault is near hers," The blond stated, "I don't know if that could be useful, but I thought I'd tell you."

"Can you even get to it on your own?" He asked slightly incredulously.

"Yes, I can, Potter. I am allowed a certain stipend every month. I imagine that my father's death will have become obvious by now. But... _He_... will not have told anyone about my mother's death, because then the hold that she has over everything, like the house, will be gone. As it is, she has little say in anything because she wasn't a Malfoy. Everything passes straight to me. The vault is mine now."

Harry thought about this for a moment, eagerly, hoping that this could solve his problem.

"I don't know. I'll have to bring it up to the others later, when we meet again..." He watched the other before adding, "You'll come. You know things about that better than I do, and you know what we're doing anyway."

"Just keep the Weasly's mouth shut."

"As long as you return the favor, Malfoy."

He led the way back toward the house, his spirits lifted in hope that perhaps they could pull this off after all.

__--*--__

I'm uncertain about Draco's future fate... well, that is, what he'll do later... I have a couple ideas, haha, but I'm not sure. Anyways, chapter is extra long today! And I kinda like it, if only because I think it made them seem a little more normal, just talking for a while.

I've also been thinking about Christmas. I wonder – Should I make an extra, extra long chapter for that, or just do two chapters that one week? Tell me what you think.

Review please!


	38. Chapter 38

A/N: I have a serious question. I mentioned it to a couple reviewers: I was thinking about (And I'd wanted to do one for a while now) of making a one-shot booklet after I finished TAFD. It would be scenes that either didn't happen in the story, like the conversations between Draco and Allen mentioned last chapter, or things like that. It would probably include one-shots of things that happened after the ending of TAFD too. And perhaps certain scenes from other's POV, so the whole thing would be less about Harry, except for the ones after the ending.

My question is this: Who would, honestly, read something like that if I started it?

__--*--__

It was night, and Harry was currently trying to teach Exploding Snap to Harry. Kanda had long sense given up, calling it annoying and a waist of time, even though Harry silently suspected that to other had been tempted to learn if only for the small explosions. Draco was at his side, though noticeably not sitting very close, and generally being himself, though perhaps a little more laid back and bland than usual. Ron sat with Lavi not too far away, playing a game of wizard's chess – that was where Kanda was now, watching at Lavi's knight manually destroyed Ron's rook. Lavi seemed absolutely fascinated and delighted, if not a little bit disturbed.

"Ha! Take that!" He exclaimed triumphantly.

"Don't get too excited, you haven't beat me yet," Ron replied, eyebrows furrowed just slightly, frustrated.

"'Yet'," Lavi repeated was a cat-got-the-canary grin, "I'm glad you've already prepared yourself for defeat. Bow before me, for I am the king of this game!"

"You couldn't be the king of anything without killing it first," Kanda snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Oh Yu, that hurt. See this?" The redhead acted as if he had a knife, and acting as if he were plunging it into his heart, "This is what it feels like, Yu."

Kanda kicked the other under the table, hard enough that the other almost hit his head on the table when he instinctively curled his hands around his shin.

"Do _not_ call me that!"

"Ow," Lavi squeaked pouting when one of his pawns met an untimely end, "Touche."

Harry hid a grin, turning his attention back toward Allen and Draco, who had taking over the explaining because Harry apparently couldn't do it very well.

"No, it goes like this," Draco insisted, "You have to be quick, or you'll get singed..."

"How about a practice game?" Harry suggested.

"I am neither blind nor unintelligent, Potter," The Malfoy snapped, "I wouldn't play a losing game."

"I never thought I'd see the day when you admitted someone was better than you," The other mused.

"It isn't my fault you did not have very cultured company. You simply did not knowing anyone better than me," Draco sniffed, paused thoughtfully, then added, "... That is, it isn't as if I am particularly admitting to that, either. It is a matter of common sense that I do not have reflexes like... _them_."

Harry didn't know if that tone and use of 'them' was an insult or not, and he quickly made himself pause and consider before jumping to offense. He was too used to hearing those kinds of insults out of the other's mouth, but he'd been consistent in keeping up his side of their so called 'truce', and it had been mutual. After a moment he decided it wasn't an insult – Malfoy just seemed a little too unsure of how to think of exorcists, still.

"So this is basically a card game?" Allen asked with the strangest glint in his eyes, "With some magical terms attached?"

"Uh, pretty much yes... I thought you liked card games?" Harry said slowly. That was the main reason he'd thought to teach it to the other, after all, besides their slight bordem.

"Oh yes," Allen's face had gone dark, his voice strange, "I know every card game there is for me to know, or at least every Muggle one. I will not lose. I never lose."

The resulting crackle was both amusing and creepy, and it seemed Draco did too, what with the way he leaned back, his eyebrows drawn up.

"I hear Black Allen," Lavi's voice came, "Why do I hear Black Allen?"

And then Harry remembered the supposed tales of Allen going out and gambling money, back before they'd gone to the Headquarters, and Ron's amusement at what they had all learned had been dubbed 'Black Allen.'

"'Black Allen'?" Bill repeated, sitting before the fire with a book and what had been a small smile. Griphook, sitting across from him, shook his head slightly.

But then there came a loud bang on the front door, and everything went completely still for all of one whole moment. Then Griphook had slipped behind the couch, out of sight. Fleur came running in, looking alarmed and frightened. Bill was pointing his wand at the door, and Ron, Hermione, and Harry did the same. Allen stood slowly, making what almost looked like the subtlest twitch of his fingers. Lavi and Kanda moved silently, in the way Harry hadn't seen in quite a while and had started learning himself, to stand at either side of the door. Just as the stopped, Bill called,

"Who is it?"

"It is I, Remus John Lupin!" The voice had to half-shout over the howling wind. Harry gave a start. He wondered what was wrong, and how the man was. "I am a werewolf, married to Nymphadora Tonks, and you, the Secret-Keeper of Shell Cottage, told me the address and bade me come in an emergency!"

Bill murmured the name, then rushed forwards and wrenched the door open. Harry readied himself and frowned angrily. If it was a trick, that would've been a stupid move. That information was stuff anyone could have found out if they'd known where to look.

The man did look just like Lupin though as he feel into the house, though white-faced and looking a little chaotic from the harsh wind. He looked around the room, stopping in alarm when he spotting Draco, who shook just a little in his wand arm. Harry's quiet spells assured him that this was indeed the real deal.

"It's a boy!" Lupin finally exclaimed, "We've named him Ted, after Dora's father!"

Hermione shrieked, and Fleur gave what sounded like a strangled shout. Lavi shut the door with a small frown of his own while Kanda went to the window. He opened it just slightly, and Timcampy zoomed outside.

"Wha – ? Tonks – Tonks had the baby?"

"Yes, yes, she's had the baby!" Lupin all but shouted. The two women squealed, offering excited congratulations. Ron seemed almost confused, as if the very idea of a baby was foreign to him, muttering something under his breath in almost-excitement.

"Yes – yes – a boy," Lupin said again, almost dazed. He looked so happy that Harry felt his chest ache for him; this news was so sudden, but still so precious...

He was even more startled when Lupin walked around the obstacles in his way and promptly swept him up in a hug, swinging him around slightly, and he was forced to remember that yes, Lupin was a lot stronger than his gentle demeanor usually let on.

"You'll be godfather?" He asked when he set Harry down.

"M-me?"

"You, yes, of course – Dora quite agrees, no one better –"

Harry blinked, startled, almost overwhelmed. It was as if the whole thing at Grimmauld Place had never happened. He hadn't expected to be suddenly asked this... well, it was an honor, really, and he hesitated.

"I – yeah – I mean – "

"Congratulations, man!" Lavi laughed, clapping Lupin on the shoulder. It was also as if Lupin's natural dislike of the exorcists had melted away, and he could only smile brightly.

"That's great news," Allen added, "I wish you luck."

Harry did briefly wonder what it must be like for them to look at the man's happiness and know that the chance of them ever having children were very low. But Allen seemed genuinely happy for the other, and Lavi's smile was earnest. It was only Kanda who was uninterested, but then, Harry wouldn't expect him to be. He tried to imagine any kinds born to the other, and failed horribly.

"I can't stay long, I must get back," Lupin was saying, still beaming, as Fleur tried to convince him to stay for a drink, and Bill fetched the wine. "Thanks you, thank you, Bill."

All their goblets were filled, and there was a toast to Teddy Remus Lupin. As Fleur asked which parent the baby took after more, Harry tried to fade to the background. He noticed when Timcampy came back, sliding in through the thin gap that Kanda opened for it, shaking itself and then going to Allen. That meant there was no one, currently, lurking around for a good amount of ground, and he relaxed the shoulders he hadn't known were tense.

Griphook left the celebration early, seemingly unaffected by it all, and he knew he wasn't the only one who had noticed. Besides the exorcists, Bill also noticed. Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, another wine bottle was being opened. It was as if this happy news had made everyone forget, if only for a little while, how bleak their situation truly was. It was nice, he thought, and smiled and laughed, and looked genuinely happy whenever someone looked at him. It wasn't hard, really, because he was indeed happy, but it just didn't seem to bubble up around him like it use to.

Eventually, Lupin declined any more wine and reached for his traveling cloak.

"No... no... I really must get back."

Harry gave a smile when the man looked his way.

"good-bye, good-bye – I'll try and bring some pictures in a few days time – they'll be so glad to know I've seen you – "

The werewolf hugged the women, and clasped hands with the men. He lingered with Harry, and received earnest well-wishing from both Allen and Lavi. He even held his hand out to Kanda, and it was perhaps a bit more surprising when it was taking, and t other werewolf gave a stern nod. Draco didn't seem to be able to decide his feelings on the matter. They didn't shake hands, but the Malfoy did give a small nod. The child is, after all, his cousin, and he couldn't bring his prejudices up at the moment.

Then Lupin left, and the festivities settled down to a calm night once more, though there was a distant tingling to the air. Harry generally avoided everyone else, or at least in having long conversations. He retired to bed early that night. He dreamed of another child with another name with no parents, whose godfather died before he could remember him, and woke up feeling guilty that it was a very possible future.

More time passed, and then it came time to put their new plan into action. They told Bill and Fleur they were leaving the day before they planned to leave. They told them that they weren't coming back, and did not explain their plan. Bill was extremely worried, and Fleur had almost tried to argue, but in the end there was nothing she could say, or do, to change their minds. They did indeed leave the next day – they did not tell anyone though, and Harry stared down at the note he had written.

It was short, merely to thank them for their help and hope that they would remain safe. Ollivander had since been moved to Muriel's, so it was just Dean and Luna now. Harry had to admit he'd sort of miss Shell Cottage. It had been nice, but he'd probably be even more glad to be rid of it. It had been a fair bit crowded, and impossible to get a moment alone. They always had to be careful not to be overheard, and he had to admit that he missed having space to himself. He even missed the Black Order Headquarters, and the room he shared with Kanda, though whether he'd see it again he wasn't sure.

It was dawn, and they all slipped out into the garden. They were a fairly large group – four wizards, a witch, a goblin, and three exorcists. Most of them would be made invisible by Harry. Kanda and Lavi would remain out in the open, acting as Malfoy's guards.

Harry had to admit, it was almost worth money to see the two exorcists in wizardry robes. He thought, privately that Kanda pulled off the regal look pretty well; he could probably pull off a decent Death Eater. Lavi seemed a little more awkward in his, but he managed just fine. He knew both wore their uniforms underneath, though without the jackets.

"How can you people move in these things?" Lavi asked with no small amount of wonder, "It's like wearing dresses around. Tell me you wear pants or something like that underneath..."

"You simply don't understand out culture," Draco shot back, annoyed, "Robes are infinitely better than those tight pants you wear – they're indecent and lude."

"W – what?" The red head sputtered, "Lude? I'll have you know that they're very good looking. Besides, I'd rather look a little strange and not have to worry about tripping all the time!"

"You won't trip if you know what you're doing. But then, you can be clumsy," Kanda looked away as he finished tying his hair. Instead of in a high ponytail, he'd tied it near the end with a fancy looking rope that Draco insisted he used because it made him appear more pureblood, and their disguise was very important.

"Not everyone can be like you," Allen replied, "Maybe you should ask Komui to turn Mugen into a wand; you pull of these 'dresses' really well."

"I can tell you exactly where to stuff those thoughts-" Kanda started, eyes narrowed, but then Harry interrupted with,

"So! Everyone ready? Yes? Good."

Instantly most of them became invisible, and Hermione let out a small squeal of surprise.

They apparated to King's Cross Road, and then went though the Leaky Cauldron. People drew away from Draco even if they were on the other side of the room. Kanda looked down his nose at people, something he did quite well, and Lavi kept a straight, indifferent expression. He wore his hair down, and combined with the expression and the eye patch, he managed to look indeed like someone they wouldn't want to approach, particularly since he was with Malfoy and another haughty looking man.

"Mr. Malfoy," Tom murmured as they passed him at the bar. Draco hummed acknowledgment and otherwise ignored the owner.

They entered the tiny backyard and Draco tapped the wall where he was suppose to. It opened, and Lavi couldn't hide his raised eyebrow.

Diagon Alley was very quiet, as shops had barely opened. Harry had never seen it so empty before, and he couldn't help but compare it to the bustling street it had been the very first time he'd visited. There were more Dark Arts shops than he'd remembered being there, and his own face covered many windows, titled with the words 'Undesirable Number One.'

Most of the people there were beggars on the side of the road, asking pitifully for gold. They insisted they were really wizards, and some were even wounded.

As they began down the road, the people quickly began to vacate the premises. Harry wondered at the reaction to Draco, of all people. The Malfoy wasn't exactly someone who deserved to be fled from; his father, yes, but his father was dead. And then he wondered if that was exactly why. With Lucius dead, the Dark Lord would have placed Draco in that spot, molding him to be who he wanted the boy to be. And of course the boy would listen and do as he was told. In fact, Harry didn't think he'd seen Draco look so proud or confident before, and that was really saying something.

"My children!" One of the men on the side of the street suddenly yelled, one of his eyes covered with a bloody bandage, "Where are my children? What has he done with them? You know, _you know_!"

The man lunged at Draco, face full of rage, reaching for his throat. He didn't even get close – with the barest of touches, Kanda and Lavi had repelled him so quickly that it did indeed look like magic. The man crashed backwards, and the exorcists faces became blank. Draco didn't even bat an eyelash. The people left were quickly leaving, and the young Malfoy stuck his nose to the air.

Harry frowned, slightly annoyed and worried. They weren't suppose to draw attention to themselves, but their entrance could hardly have been more attention-drawing. He steeled himself, preparing to continue onwards. It would hardly be unnoticeable if they suddenly turned tail and left.

"Why, if it isn't young Malfoy," A voice suddenly called.

It was a wizard with a crown of bushy gray hair and a long, sharp nose. He was waling toward them – Harry recognized him as the one Death Eater who had left Xenophilius's house alive. He stifled a small amount of panic. Would he recognize the exorcists?

"It is Mr. Malfoy now, as you know," Draco replied coldly, "Travers."

"Ah, yes. Terribly sorry about your loss," Travers smoothly retorted, "Terrible accident, that one."

"Yes. Accident," Draco's voice was almost flat.

"But I must admit that I am surprised to see you here, Mr. Malfoy."

"Is that so?" He started walking again, apparently growing tired of just standing there.

"Well, yes. I _heard_ that the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor were confined to the house after the... ah... _escape_."

Harry's eyes widened slightly. Either there were now more people at the Manor, or Travers was not aware that Draco was really the only survivor from the Manor. That left the hope that Voldemort really did keep Narcissa's murder secret, and perhaps Bellatrix's as well. But still, if that was what he thought, then Draco shouldn't be here.

"You have heard wrongly, then," Draco replied haughtily, "I am here under an errand of the Dark Lord himself, and he would be displeased to know that you suspect me so."

Travers blinked, somewhere between offended and curious. He followed them closely, and Harry hoped the others were being careful not to bump into anyone. If he concentrated, he found that he could sense almost exactly where the others were.

"And this?" The Death Eater mused as he looked the exorcists over, "You travel in interesting company."

Harry saw the flash in the other man's eyes, and did not know what it meant. He hoped that it was not, in the least, a flash of recognition.

"This is Dragomere Desbard, a wizard from Japan," Draco announced formally, motioning toward Kanda. "He is the leader of a faction quite interested in the Dark Lord, and have come to see our new regime."

Kanda did not reach out to shake the other's hand, and pulled off a pureblooded glare quite well.

"And this," Draco continued as he motioned toward Lavi, "Is Deak Acuzio, an American wizard here for the same reasons."

Lavi gave a small inclination of his head but was otherwise silent. Travers frowned slightly, but covered it up with a pleasant expression.

"So you're here for an errand, you say?" He asked.

"Yes," Draco gave a sharp nod, "To Gringotts."

"Alas, I also," Travers smiled slightly, "Gold, filthy gold! We cannot live without it, yet I confess I deplore the necessity of consorting with our long-fingered friends."

Harry winced, following Draco's footsteps and hoping Griphook would keep himself both quiet and not troublesome.

"Gold is, I take it, why you are here, after all?"

"You step beyond your station, Travers," Draco sneered, "It is no business of yours what the Dark Lord wishes, if he did not ask you."

"As, what a good little Death Eater you are. You are quite right. I apologize."

Harry felt only a little relieved. Draco was pulling his role off very well, with no signs of betrayal in sight. Granted, he'd required an Unbreakable Vow before he allowed Draco o join the planning seriously, but still.

At the marble steps leading up to the great bronze doors, there were no longer goblins at either side of the door. Instead, there were two wizards, holding long golden rods. They'd expected this, and so he waited anxiously.

"Ah, Probity Probes," Travers sighed dramatically, "so crude – but effective!"

He stepped up, nodding to the guards. The golden rods were raised and passed over his body thoroughly. Harry knew that the rods detected spells of concealment and hidden magical objects. They had neither, other than his Innocence cloak, but they did not know they were there to check. Travers was watching them as Draco passed through easily, and as they had planned, moved so that in the pause between each of them, those who were invisible could pass through.

Once inside, Harry saw the inner doors of silver which carried the poem warning the dire retribution to potential thieves. He covered a snort. He wondered what he would have thought if he'd known seven years ago, the first time he had stood before these doors, that he would be here to do this very thing and steal from here.

They entered the hall, and Draco pretended to give a few short words explaining the place to Lavi and Kanda, which were in fact very real since they really had little idea of this place. Travers went ahead of them, and he stepped up to a goblin who had been inspecting a golden coin. The goblin tossed it aside with a mutter and then examined the golden key the Death Eater passed to him. Then Draco stepped forward.

"Mr. Malfoy!" The goblin appeared faintly surprised, "How may I help you today?"

"I wish to enter my vault," Draco answered.

The goblin frowned, drawing back just a little. Travers was watching them, Harry noticed, and so were a couple other goblins around.

"You have... identification?"

Harry felt the presence of one of the others under his invisibility quickly come up beside him, and then he heard Griphook hiss lowly,

"They are suspicious! They must have been warned about an impostor!"

"Identification?" Draco asked, eyes narrowed, "Why am I being asked this? Or are those probes of yours in fact quite ineffective?"

"I mean no disrespect, sir," The goblin quickly said, "But we received news about the Elder Malfoy, and we heard that you have been missing."

There was obviously more to that that the goblin wasn't saying, but they wouldn't get it out of him.

"Here is my wand then," Draco held his wand out with another sneer, "I will be sure to mention this, however."

He sure is good at threatening others with someone higher than him, Harry thought.

The Goblin took the wand, and Harry clenched his fist. They were being suspected, obviously, and he couldn't afford to be caught now. He pulled out his own wand with a flick of his wrist and whispered,

"_Imperio_!"

The sensation that traveled down his arm was new and curious. The goblin shifted and suddenly seemed casual, as if this was quite normal. He said,

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy. It was silly of me."

Draco had no reaction to the change, instead nodding to the Death Eater and saying,

"Yes. It was interesting seeing you, Travers, but this is where we part ways."

"Certainly," Travers nodded coolly, "I will be seeing you around more often, I trust?"

"Indeed."

Harry admired that the other boy managed to pull off the tone of his Father remarkably well. Kanda eyed the man as he left, and Lavi tilted his head as if in farewell.

"I shall need the Clankers," the goblin told the younger one that had approached them. A moment later, the younger goblin reappeared with a leather bag that seemed to be full of jangling metal, "Good, god! So, if you will follow me, Mr. Malfoy."

He jumped down from the stool, momentarily vanishing from sight, before rounding the counter, "I shall take you to your vault."

He approached them happily enough, ignored the other goblin who called out to his with a wave of his hand, and led the way. They went through one of the many doors, into a stone passageway. As soon as the door slammed shut behind them, Harry allowed the invisibility to drop.

"We might be in trouble; they suspect us."

The goblin, Bogrod if the name the other goblin had been saying was correct, showed no surprise at their sudden appearance.

"They're Imperiused," He explained at the confused looks he received.

"Should we leave?" Ron asked, "If we go any further, we might not be able to later."

"Maybe not even now," Hermione added.

"If we leave now, they might realize something was wrong. There's no telling if we'll get this chance again," Harry replied, "I say we go on."

"Good!" Griphook said, "So, we need Bogrod to control the cart; I no longer have the authority. But there is not room for all of us."

They had known it might come to this. There wasn't room for three of them. They had Bogrod call one more cart – it might set off alarms that there were more people than they were aware off, but they had argued exhaustively about whether or not to leave three of them behind. They had decided, in the end, that they couldn't, particularly not if if came down to fighting their way out.

They climbed in. Bogrod, Griphook, Harry, Allen, and Draco all sat in the front cart, while Kanda, Lavi, Hermione, and Ron sat in the back one. It was a tight fit, but then the cart jerked forward, gathering speed. They went through many twists and turns, and before Harry knew it, they had gone deeper into Gringotts than he'd ever been before. Through more turns and dips, and then they suddenly were rounding a corner, revealing a waterfall just beyond it.

"No!" Griphook shouted. There were no breaks, and so they ran through it. Water covered everything, and Harry couldn't even breath. Then the cart lurched forward, sending everyone flying out of it seconds before the second cart smashed into the first one.

Harry tried twisting himself around, and he managed to at least land on his hands and feet. Thanks to Hermione, however, he landed softly.

"C-Cushioning Charm," She stuttered to Lavi and Allen's startled expressions.

"That was the Thief's Downfall!" Griphook exclaimed, scrambling up and looking back at the falling water. "It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are thieves here in Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!"

Harry quickly checked to make sure his cloak was still there, and he saw Hermione doing the same with her beaded bag. He then recast his spell on Bogrod when he began to come back to himself. He covered his alarm. They knew something was wrong. The chances of them getting out inscatched was now slim.

"I think I hear people coming!" Hermione announced, and she used a Protego to stop the waterfalls deluge.

"How are we getting out again?" Ron wondered.

Harry stifled his first response and instead said,

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

He took a deep breath, caught the exorcists gaze, and nodded. They would do this, and they _would_ get out of here in one piece.

__--*--__

A/N: I remember I was going to say something else here, but I can't remember what it was D: Oh well. At least Winter Break starts soon!

Review please!


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: Two chapters it is. The next one won't be on Weds. Instead, it'll be on Fri. Then it'll go back to normal.

Thanks to everyone who told me whether or not they'd read the one-shot booklet idea thing. I still don't know if I'll make it, but there's a really good chance I will. Anyways, moving on!

__--*--__

Harry knew they were close when he heard a distant clanking and moving about. They were moving as quietly as they could, but also as quickly as they could without full on running. There was a distinctly tense silence around them as they rounded they corner, broken by a quiet gasp from someone. He wasn't sure who. He was too distracted by the gigantic dragon standing in their way.

It was huge, and it blocked the way to several of the deepest vaults, including the one they were trying to reach. It was pale – both it's scales and it's eyes – from being underground so long. It's hind legs bore heavy chains attached to large pegs driven into the rocky floor. It noticed them then, and opened it's mouth with a roar that shook the tunnels and sent a large stream of fire their way.

They all scramble backwards and under shelter again to avoid it.

"It is partially blind," Griphook panted, "but even more savage for that. However, we have the means to control it. It has learned what to expect when the Clankers come. Give them to me."

Ron did pass them, and Lavi had a small frown as he watched. Allen only watched the dragon with an interestingly forlorn expression that Harry did not like, but that he understood. He felt similarly.

From the bag came a number of small metal instruments that when shaken made a loud, ringing noise like miniature hammers on anvils. Griphook handed one out to each of them. Kanda took his distractedly, nose wrinkled as he too eyed the dragon.

"You know what to do," Griphook reminded them, "It will expect pain when it hears the noise: It will retreat, and Bogrod must place his palm upon the door of the vault."

They all shook the Clankers when they rounded the corner again. The noise, already extremely loud what with their numbers, echoed from the walls even louder. It almost seemed to make the whole place vibrate, Harry along with it, and he thought he might be hearing the ringing long after they left this place. The dragon let out another roar, this one without flames, and the began to back away. As they passed, he could see it trembling, and he could spot to many old scars across it's face. He pitied it, and felt a little guilty as well.

"Make him press his hand to the door!" The goblin urged Harry, knocking him from his thoughts. He turned his wand onto Bogrod then, and the other pressed his palm to the wood of the great door before them. The door melted away, and inside was something akin to a cave, filled with all sorts of valuables, from money, armor, skins, potions, and even a skull.

"We've gotta be fast," He said over Lavi's impressed whistle.

They hurried inside, set to look for the Hufflepuff cup. He hoped it was here – and if it was the other, unknown Horcrux, he feared he would miss it entirely, since he didn't know what it looked like.

Hermione gave a small squeak when the door reappeared behind them.

"No matter, Bogrod will be able to release us!" Griphook exclaimed, "Light your wands, can't you? And hurry, we have very little time!"

Harry lit his wand with the others. The first thing he spotted was the fake Gryffindor sword on a high shelf amongst a bunch of chains. He saw coins, and fancy items, and he could feel his impatience arising. He heard Kanda sneeze violently, twice, three times.

"Bless you, Yu. Didn't know you had allergies," Lavi commented.

"I don't," The werewolf grumbled unhappily.

"Harry," Hermione interrupted, "could this be – "

She was cut off by her own scream of pain, and Harry knew he wasn't the only one who jumped. He spun quick enough to see her dropping a jeweled goblet, and before it had even hit the ground, it was splitting and suddenly there were many identical cups sprawled all over the floor, the original unidentifiable.

"It burned me!" Moaned Hermione, waving her blistered fingers in the air before sucking on them.

"Why would you touch something without checking it first?" Draco snapped, "I thought you were the smart one, Granger."

"It it's as important as you guys keep saying it is, it _does_ seem like it would be protected," Lavi agreed.

"They have Gemino and Flagrante Curses!" Griphook said, "Everything you touch will burn and multiply, but the copies are worthless – and if you continue to handle the treasure, you will eventually be crushed to death by the weight of expanding gold!"

"Cheery," Lavi mused, "Not morbid and unfortunate at all."

"Shut _up_," Hermione hissed.

"Don't touch anything!" Harry exclaimed.

"Like we'd want to after that – " Ron started, but paused as he accidentally nudged one of the fallen goblets with his foot. It promptly exploded at least twenty more copies, and he jumped around a little, part of his shoe burned away from the hot medal.

"Don't move!" Kanda snarled, and it succeeded to make Hermione, Ron, and Draco all freeze completely. They tried to move as little as possible, but it was impossible, and there were quite simply too many of them. Fake Galleons littered the ground even more numerous than the fake cups, and there was barely any room to place their feet now. Harry could feel his heart pounding, and he was almost tempted to pray that there really was a Horcrux here, somewhere, that they had not come here for no reason after all. And then he saw it.

It was almost at the ceiling, and he gave a triumphant cry. It was there, plain as day now, the Hufflepuff Cup he _knew_ was a Horcrux, and he felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Ron, Hermione, and Draco all turned and pointed their wands too, and the cup gleamed almost maliciously.

"How're we going to get it though?!" Ron cried, "We can't touch anything!"

"Maybe-" Harry thought quickly, and withdrew the real Gryffindor sword. One touch revealed that nothing replicated when touched with it. He tried to think up some way to get up there without touching anything, but he was coming up short. Then he heard the sound of more metal falling, and turned to see that it wasn't falling, only being pushed aside as Lavi's hammer grew. Nothing it touched replicated.

"Quick, can you get over here?" The exorcist asked. It was Hermione that floated him over carefully, and just as Harry's feet landed on the large hammer, he heard the Clankers outside the door, followed by a roar. He felt his stomach tighten. There was no way to sneak back out now, but then, he hadn't thought this would go smoothly from the start.

"Hold on, and don't let go," Lavi warned him just before the handle started to extend. For several minutes all was well, and Harry reached the sword out, hooking the cup on the blade. He breathed out a sigh of relief, but his relief was short lived.

Hermione brushed against just a small amount of coins, but it was one too many – suddenly there was no more room for her feet, and her sudden scream of pain sent Harry from his loose perch on the hammer. He landed amongst more coins and shields. One of the shields hit Griphook, sending him into a suit of armor, and suddenly the treasure was rising fast, red hot metal encasing them from all sides and rising still. There was simply too many of them – nine persons here in this vault.

Then Griphook was buried completely, and Bogrod was soon to follow, and only the exorcists were keeping anything even remotely resembling a normal expression. Allen's grimace disappeared as he activated his Innocence, creating a shield around himself. He reached out, grabbed Bogrod, and shielded him as well. Lavi's hammer shrunk again; he did it in order to try and create more room. He couldn't make it bigger or else it would press everything further into everyone else.

The room was stifling with the heat rising in waves, and Harry was sweating heavily as he scrambled over the tide, ignoring the pain as well as he could, and plunged his hand underneath to drag a screaming Griphook into the air.

The Clanking on the other side of the door was even louder, and Harry's eyes widened as the goblin lunged up at him, scrambling away from the burning metal, knocking the sword and cup away completely from his hand. He was lunging for them in the next second, not even hearing the screams of pain from his friends anymore, so focused was he on catching them both.

Arms also out, it was Griphook who caught the sword. He waved it with a cry, sending the cup flying once again, and Harry gave a cry of anger as he lunged yet again. He caught the cup, ignoring the replications that burst forth, completely unwilling to let go no matter what. He was reaching up for the sword in the next instant as the door to the vault disappeared again, and he realized with a start that Griphook was trying to climb away from him, holding the sword up and out of his reach.

It was then that he realized that the goblin had probably planned trying to take the sword sooner or later, and he snarled as he get a demand that was really only a shout.

The treasure was a wave spilling out of the vault, and they all rode it out into the outer chamber. Harry was barely aware of his pain anymore – he knew only that he _needed_ that sword back, and that Griphook had betrayed him. He had the cub shoved into his pocket long before he was shoving his feet through the medal for a foothold.

Griphook was jumping away, trying to run toward the large crowd of goblins waiting for them, all carrying daggers at the ready.

"_No!!!_" He heard himself roaring distantly, seeing the goblin getting away and knowing he wasn't going to get to him in time.

Then a familiar hammer was flying by his face, and he didn't even think about it before he grabbed a hold. At first his grip slipped, his hand being sweaty, and he felt his skin burning and being pulled and torn. But his grip tightened, and even though he couldn't hold on tight enough to be pulled along, he was at least flung forward so that he could push himself into a lunge, then running.

The hammer went right over Griphook's shoulder, then stopped extending. It was big enough that it sent the goblin back wards, stopping him far enough away from the crowd.

Harry moved faster than he thought he could. The next thing he knew, he was knelt over the goblin, who was screaming,

"Thieves! Thieves! _Help!_"

"Traitor," Harry hissed angrily, grabbing the swords hilt and trying to yank it from the others grip. The goblin's screaming turned to wailing, until finally he couldn't hold on and the sword was ripped from his grasp. Red lights streamed over his shoulders, and he was aware then of a hand tugging him insistantly up and back. He was startled to find not one of the exorcists, or even one of his friends, but Malfoy. His face was gaunt, there was terror in his eyes, and his hand was shaking as he fired off spell after spell.

Harry quickly moved back as he was directed, looking around and spotting some wizard guards running around the corner. He thought hurriedly; What were all his options?

There was fighting his way out, which was a last resort. There was the Ark, but that was a last resort beyond a last resort, only if they were about to be caught. There was... what else was there?

The dragon roared, and flame rushed out over the goblins, towards the oncoming wizards. They all fled, going back the way they had come in the first place, and Harry saw his chance.

One 'relashio' later and the cuffs on the dragon were open and they fell with a loud, echoing noise.

"This way!" He was yelling, almost bodily dragging Malfoy toward the dragon, "This way, come _on_!"

"Harry – Harry – What are you doing?" Hermione cried after them shrilly.

"Get up, climb up, hurry-" Harry felt Malfoy yank away from his grip, and he gave the other a _look_, and then was pushing Hermione up as well.

"Is this a good idea-" Allen started uneasily, but then the dragon seemed to be realizing that it could move. It was only seconds before it would realize it was free, and so Harry shoved Ron after Draco with a harsh shove, and then climbed up after them. Allen jumped up, amazing them, and used Crown Clown to shoot out long ribbons, which wrapped around Kanda's middle, yanking him backwards with a snarl and a snap.

Lavi barely jumped on before the dragon reared, almost sending them off. Harry clung on with only his legs as he sheathed the sword and checked the cup's security. They were crowded and there was hardly any room, but that made it easier to cling to each other. Then the dragon was airborne, knocking goblins aside like pebbles. They lay almost flat on it's back – there was so little room, and Harry found himself with a face full of Hermione's hair and his arm bent at a painful angle under Ron's midsection. They scrapped against the ceiling as it dived toward the passage opening. Daggers bounced off it's hide from the pursuing goblins.

"We'll never get out, it's too big!" Hermione was screeching, and Harry could see that yes, there was no room. But then the dragon opened its mouth and belched flame, blasting into the tunnel. The floor and ceiling had already started to crumble. The fire sent heat washing over them, dust clinging to them as they passed.

Then Harry felt Lavi moving by his legs, and he was able to look back and see the red head shifting to sit up, which seemed like suicide. His yell was swallowed by another blast of fire, but then Lavi called out Allen's name. Seconds later, those same ribbons shot out and wrapped around Lavi, keeping him with them even as the exorcist stood as well as he could.

Some rubble clipped Lavi's temple, opening a small gash that bled onto the side of his face and into his hair. He held his hammer before him, and Harry knew his eyes weren't the only ones who widened when a huge, glowing shape appeared beside them, a Japanese character, he thought. He distantly heard Lavi yelling,

"Hi ban!"

The swing of the enlarged hammer connected with the symbol, and two humongous dragons of flame swirled into life with a roar of their own.

Harry felt the heat searing into his face. It burned all the dust away, and the light hurt his eyes. He could feel his skin tightening, like a sunburn, and then the flame dragons lurched up, burning through the ceiling along with the one that they rode now.

Hermione tried to help as well as Ron, but their spells seemed to do little compared against the mighty force Lavi had summoned. In the end, they were stuck hanging on as tightly as they could.

The dragon seemed to sense fresh air was closer than it probably ever had been in many, many years. The further they went, the further the Clankers and goblins faded, until they were too far to hear at all.

And then suddenly the very last of it gave way, and they were surrounded by white marble once again. Harry had a flash of Headquarters, but then he found himself staring around at goblins and wizards instead of exorcists and Finders. They were either fleeing for their lives or standing around and staring like idiots, and it was an amusing sight. The flame dragons had burst out ahead of them, scorching the area around them to a black mess, and now they spun around on it selves before giving one last roar and fading out.

Not that he had long to enjoy it the idiotic expressions for long.

The dragon's head turned as it stretched it's wings, and then it was lurching for the door, beyond which freedom lay. It forced through the front doors, scattering every single person outside who had any wits at all.

They were grasping on as tightly as they could to the dragon, and to each other, as it finally jumped into the air and took off in flight.

They climbed higher and higher, until London was hardly anything more than a bunch of pretty lights. The air was blissful against Harry's throbbing skin, and he had to swallow his sense of impeding doom that they would be thrown off at any second. Ron was swearing with words he didn't even know, and Hermione was trying so hard not to cry, but sobbing anyway. Draco was stock still, white as a sheet, and mouthing something he couldn't hear.

Lavi was laughing, and it was such a different reaction that Harry wondered if the other had cracked. Then he remembered – Lavi was an exorcist, it was like a license to be a little weird. Allen was shaking his head ruefully and smiling nonetheless. Kanda looked like he would sprout claws any second, just to dig them into the scalely hide.

Harry found himself immensely grateful – they had pulled off their mission, which had seemed impossible, and which had seemed to go wrong at nearly every chance available. Everyone was alive, and even better, still in one piece. Griphook had been a traitor, and probably would have gotten the sword from them if Lavi hadn't been there, but the fact remains that they had gotten the sword back. And, as he checked every few moments just to make sure, the Hufflepuff Cup was still securely in his pocket.

He wondered how long it would be before Voldemort knew. For surely, the Dark Lord would find out, and then he would know for sure what their mission was. He would be angry, and Harry hoped the other would be terrified, even if that might be unlikely.

The dragon kept rising as they flu, as if attracted to the cold air. They kept going as well, until there was nothing but country side below them and he really wanted to know how the blind dragon was going to know when or where to land. And if it would notice they were there. If he had to chose, he suppose he would rather have the dragon notice them once on the ground, rather than to do an enthusiastic flip or something and send them all falling to their deaths. Probably.

He still had no idea whether the exorcists could survive a fall this high. He decided he didn't want to know if it meant putting the experiment into practice.

"What do you think it's looking for?" Ron yelled about the wind, as they went further and further north.

"I don't know," Harry called back.

"Who said it's looking for anything?" Lavi exclaimed loudly, "If I were stuck underground that long, I'd want to stretch my wings and get as far away from there as I could go!"

Harry's hands were numb from the cold and he was getting extremely hungry. He craved Jerry's cooking, and knew he wasn't the only one. At one point, when they were sailing over a forest, he heard a growl that rose over the wind. He thought it was the dragon, that it had noticed they were there, but then Kanda kicked Allen who apologized sheepishly. Hermione looked half crazy as she glared at him.

The sun was setting and Harry was tired. He knew the others were having considerable trouble hanging on still. They'd been doing so for hours upon hours, too scared to let go. It was Allen who called out, saying that they were finally losing height.

Everyone who could, looked. Indeed, they were slowly moving downwards, toward a smaller lake. Harry didn't know how the dragon managed to realize that the water was down there, but he knew that it was about time to get off.

"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" He called to everyone else. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"

He heard faint agreement from around him. They waited until he could see the dragons underbelly in the water below them, and then shouted,

"NOW!"

He shoved Draco, who was in his way and let out colorful curses and threats that Snape would have been proud of, and then slid off after him. He heard another splash or two before the water swallowed him; The drop had been greater than he'd thought it would be, and he hit hard. The water was freezing around him, and he already knew he'd be chattering from it as soon as he rose to the surface.

Kanda and Allen were already up when he did, followed closely by Lavi. Seconds later, Hermione, Ron, and Draco emerged, coughing and sputtering. As one they turned to look after the dragon, hoping it had not noticed them.

It had not.

It flew on, great wings carrying it to a far off shore, never once looking back. It was Draco who braved the silence,

"If you ever do that again, Potter, I will had you to the Dark Lord myself. I swear it."

"Well," Harry hummed, mostly so he could feel something since he could feel nothing else, "I'd like to think I'm never going to be on the back of a blind dragon escaping from Gringotts again, so you're safe."

"But it's _you_, Potter," Malfoy grouched, "If anyone, you would manage it."

They turned then, and followed Kanda to the furthest shore from the dragon. They found the lake was not very deep. Before long, it wasn't a question of swimming, so much as fighting through mud and reeds.

They emerged onto the shore, collapsing seconds later into the wet and slippery grass. They were exhausted. Harry was the first one to start on the protective spells, standing wearily and shakily slightly. Then he allowed himself to join the others. He got his first real glimpse at them since the vault.

They all had red, angry burns on their faces and arms, and their robes were mostly singed away. As he looked, Kanda was ripping off the remains of his own robes, revealing the same turtle-neck, sleeveless shirt he'd worn at the Weasly's a lifetime ago, and his uniform pants. Moments later, Lavi followed suit, and Hermione pulled out her essence of dittany. Harry went last, dabbing some on his wounds, and he took the dry clothes Hermione offered him gratefully.

"Well," Ron said slowly, "We got the Horcrux. That's gotta count for something."

"That counts for everything," Harry replied, gritting his teeth as he dabbed some on an angry burn on his upper arm with Allen's help.

"We even managed to keep the sword," Hermione added.

"That dirty traitor-"

"Everything turned out fine though," Harry interrupted, "We got really lucky, probably."

"Luck? Ha!" Lavi grinned lazily as he lit a fire, "That was all skill, man."

"Hardly likely," Draco grumbled, sulking in his admittedly plain and non expensive robes.

Harry grinned for only a moment. It was wiped away when he withdrew the cup from his pocket. Knowing what it was dampened the mood considerably.

"At least we can't wear it this time. That'd looked a bit weird hanging from around our necks," Ron said, drawing a wry smile from most of them.

"So..." Hermione looked around at them, bitting her lip, "Are you... are you going to destroy it now?"

"I should," Harry replied slowly, eyeing the way the cup glinted. He was apprehensive though. He didn't want to destroy it in front of everyone else if it was anything like the locket had been.

"Get it over with," Malfoy gave a careless wave of his hand, "After going through all that to get it, you should hurry and get rid of it so nothing happens."

"I'm more afraid of what will happen if I _do_ destroy it," Harry admitted softly. He ignored the mostly questioning looks, and Allen's careful stare in particular. He drew the sword of Gryffindor, admiring the way it glinted orange in the falling sunlight.

It was fairly simple, really. He gathered his nerve and stood over the Horcrux. After a moment, he heard a whisper on the wind, gathering strength, giving promises that sounded so tempting. He brought the sword down before they could become louder.

The tip of the blade cut through the inside middle of the cup, driving down into the base, and the whispers suddenly escalated into an inhuman scream of pain and rage. Hermione jumped violently, and Harry stabbed it twice more to be sure, ignoring the screaming and the raging whispers that had turned from promises to threats.

Then the screaming died, and he allowed himself to sit back and stare at the remains quietly. Everyone else was just as silent. Hermione was still shaking, and he didn't think it was entirely the cold anymore. Draco stared determinedly at anything _but_ the cup.

"What're we going to do now?" Hermione wondered, drawing her knees up to her chest. "He'll know now, won't he? You-Know-Who will know we know about his Horcruxes!"

"Probably," Harry agreed, "There's nothing we can do but wait and look for the last couple of Horcruxes."

"This'll be something to tell the kids though," Ron mused, "Imagine walking into Gringotts and telling them how we went into the deepest vaults, stole a piece of You-Know-Who's soul, and made it out in one piece?"

"Only someone like you would be thrilled at telling stories of thievery to your children, Weasly," Malfoy frowned slightly, drawing closer to the fire.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed, "Come on, Malfoy,you _know_ that was bloody awesome, you'll be doing it too."

Draco's face flushed slightly over his scowl, and he opened his mouth to retort, but Harry didn't hear it. A raging pain had exploded from his scar, blanking out anything and everything from him in just seconds. He was falling, there were no breaks.

And then he fell into a vision.

__--*--__

A/N: Ha. So. Yeah. First off, an early Happy Holiday's to everyone. And second – can you believe we're nearing the end? I don't know how many more chapters, but no more than 50 in all for sure. In the book, we're at page 548!

Anyways, yeah, that's all. Review please!


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Okay. Well. It's Christmas! So yeah, Merry Christmas to everybody XD I hope everyone has fun.

(The site is giving me crap loads of trouble uploading this. It was up yesterday, but there was no alert, and then it deleted it! So sorry about that.)

__--*--__

Harry was in a dimly lit room, a semicircle of wizards facing him. Before him was a small, quaking figure, kneeling at his feet where he belonged.

"What did you say to me?" He heard himself hiss, cold and unfeeling, covering the fear and rage inside him. The one thing he had dreaded – but it could not be true, he could not see how...

The goblin was still trembling, unable to lift his head and look anywhere but the floor.

"Say it again!" Harry-as-Voldemort demanded quietly, "_Say it again!_"

"M-my Lord," The goblin stammered, terrified, "m-my Lord... we t-tried t-to st-stop them....Im-imposter's, my Lord... broke – broke into the – into the Lestranges' vault..."

"Impostors? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had ways of revealing impostors? Who were they?"

"It was... it was... the P-Potter b-boy, and six others, o-one disguised as y-young m-mister Malfoy..."

He ignored the laugh at his side with the utmost effort.

"_And they took_?" His voice was rising along with his fear, and it gripped his harshly from inside, "Tell me! _What did they take_?"

"A.... a s-small golden c-cup, m-my Lord..."

He did not recognize the scream that tore through his throat then; it did not sound like him, it was too full with a crazy, frenzied denial. Nobody had ever known his secret, he'd guarded it more preciously than anything else, there was no way the boy could have known, could have guessed. How was it even possible?

The Elder Wand in his hand slashed the air and green light shown over and over, reflecting from every medal surface and giving an unreal feeling of nightmare to the Death Eaters still alive, who were running for the door. Those who were left behind fell, slain, dead, for hearing about the cup, for being there.

He stormed amongst the dead after there was nobody left, having fled or been killed, his wand arm trembling as he paced. He heard the laugh again, amused, ironic, daring, and it angered him even further. He spun on his heel, his robes swaying out behind him, and he didn't even think about it.

The Killing Curse took to the air again, flying right towards the only one who would dare laugh at him, ever, even in this moment of rage unlike he'd ever felt before.

And the man only laughed louder as the green light sped right through him, as if he were a ghost. He might as well have been, that was all the Noah's ever seemed to be. Tyki's golden eyes glinted at him, and he knew, he knew, that that man was closer to immortality than he was now, and he hated, hated, hated.

His own immortality was slipping away – the diary destroyed, and the cup stolen. Did the boy know about the others? Could Dumbledore have traced his lineage, could he have discovered the other Horcruxes? Could he have told the boy, before he was killed?

He should know, he raged, he should know if any of the others were destroyed. He did not feel it when the diary was destroyed, true, but he'd thought that was because he'd had no body at the time to feel it with. He should know if other pieces of his soul had been attacked, mutilated. He was Lord Voldemort! He was the greatest Dark Lord to ever live, and who would never die!

But he must know, he must be sure. He kicked the goblins corpse as he passed it, focused on his thoughts and rage. The lake, the shack, and Hogwarts –

A modicum of calm cooled his rage now: How could the boy know that he had hidden the ring in the Gaunt shack? Nobody had known, and he had never told, the killings had never been traced to him. No, surely the ring was safe.

And even if the boy had known about the cave and the locket, he would never have been able to get past the protection there. The very thought was absurd.

Perhaps the boy had guessed that one was in Hogwarts, but only he himself knew where it was. He was the one who had learned the deepest secrets of that place, so no one would be able to find it.

And there was still Nagini, who must remain close now, no longer sent to do his bidding, under his protection...

But he had to be absolutely sure. He would go to each of his hiding places, and he would increase the protection to each. It was something he would do alone, just as he had with the Elder Wand.

Which should he go after first? Which one was in more danger? He decided, with a moment of unease, that he would look for the ring. Dumbledore had known his middle name, and he might have tracked it to the Gaunts. It was the least secure, and so he would go there first. He would check the cave afterwards, even though it was surely impossible that the locket had been taken. And after that Hogwarts – there was no doubt that the Horcrux there was safe, but he would warn Snape anyway.

He spun again, sttriding from the room, down the hall, and stopping only when he reached the garden. It took only a few hisses of Parseltongue before Nagini slid out from the shadows to him, joining him like a long shadow...

Harry shot up, emerging back into the present, breathing slightly labored. His scar was pounding angrily, and it was obvious that his little trip hadn't gone by unnoticed. Ron and Hermione were hovering over him, frowning in concern, and Allen was right behind them, covering his slightly bleeding, activated cursed eye.

"He knows," Harry announced as he pushed himself up, ignoring both the urge to shiver, and Malfoy's startled and unsettled stare. "He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one is at Hogwarts. I _knew _it!"

"What?" Ron was almost gaping at him, concern and fear warring on his face.

"But what did you see? How-"

"What are you talking about?" Malfoy interrupted Hermione, "How do you know something like that?"

"I – my scar – I sometimes see-" Harry took a deep breath, gathered himself, and replied, "My scar is like a link to _him, _so sometimes, when he's really angry or something, I get pulled into his mind. I saw him. He's seriously angry, and really scared, he can't understand how we know. He's going to check on his other Horcruxes, the ring first. He things the Hogwarts one is safest because Snape is there, and I think he'll check that one last, but he could still get there in hours - "

"Did you see where in Hogwarts it is?" Ron asked, scrambling up to his feet.

"No, he was more concerned about warning Snape and his other Horcruxes, he didn't really think about where it is."

Harry was standing then, looking around, trying to calm his racing thoughts and concentrate on thinking clearly. He took deep breaths, calming himself only a little, and he was so focused on not losing his head that Lavi's voice made him jump.

"So what do you think we should do then, Mr. Savior?"

"_Wait_ just a _second_," Hermione cried, staring around at them with wide eyes, "You can't mean to just _go_!? We need a plan, we need to - "

"We can't wait, Hermione," Harry interrupted, this fact crystal clear, "Can you imagine what he's going to do when he realizes the ring _and_ the locket are both gone? He might move the Hogwarts Horcrux, and then we might never find it again."

He began gathering his things, pulling out his invisibility cloak and settling it more securely underneath his jacket. Kanda already appeared impatient, and Allen knelt at the edge of the lake, washing the blood off. He couldn't help frown at the reminder of the strange occurrence – he still had no idea how Allen had become able to see his visions like that.

"How are we going to get in?" Lavi asked, pulling on his own uniform jacket.

"We'll go to Hogsmeade," Harry explained, "and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's like. We need to stick together this time."

"But this really isn't-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Malfoy exclaimed, "You can't be serious. You want to go breaking into Hogwarts the _same_ day we _barely_ survived breaking into Gringotts, in a race against You-Know-Who?! You've got to be insane!"

"Haven't you been saying that for years anyway?" Harry shot back, slightly irritated.

"Well, yes, but I never thought you were _this_ insane!"

"Look, we really don't have time for this," He shook his head, "I appreciate your help, Malfoy, but if you want to stay behind this time, I won't blame you. It's up to you. Else wise, we really need to get going."

"But-"

He ignored the blond, ushering the other's closer.

"I'm going to make us invisible," He started, "Stay close. Ready?"

Several nods, and he opened his mouth, ready to get going, but Draco called out,

"Wait!"

A few seconds of silence, and then the blond head poked into the group,

"I'm g-going," Draco swallowed, face flushing, "Not like I have anywhere else to go."

"Just don't go tellin' anybody if you run off, Malfoy," Ron suggested, eyes narrowed.

"Shut it, Weasly!" Draco snarled.

"Both of you!" Harry snapped, "... Alright then, Malfoy, but if you do leave, which you can if things get too much for you, then go back to Shell Cottage, or where ever, but don't breath a word of this to anyone."

The other two could only nod. Moments later, after everyone was connected for side-along apparition, then the invisibility fell over them. Then Harry spun, and they were squeezed through the uncomfortable darkness.

Harry's feet touched road, moments later, and he recognized Hogsmeade High Street instantly. The road was dark, filled only with the light from shops like the Three Broomsticks. He remembered, briefly, how he'd landed here nearly a year before, supporting a desperately weak Dumbledore.

And then the air began to scream. It sounded like Voldemort had, after he'd learned the cup had been stolen, and it sent shivers down his spine. He knew it was they themselves that had caused it, and he would have cursed himself for not thinking something like this had been done, had he had time. As it was, the door to the Three Broomsticks burst open, and at least a dozen cloaked Death Eaters dashed out, wands at the ready.

He hoped nobody attempted to shoot at the Death Eaters. There were too many; he heard the sound of clothe shuffling nearby, and a quiet hiss. His heart pounding, he waited, but nothing happened. His grip on Allen's arm and Lavi's sleeve tightened, and he was distantly relieved when the screaming in the air stopped with the wave of one of the Death Eater's wand.

"_Accio Cloak_!" One of them yelled.

Despite Harry's jump, the cloak didn't answer the summons. It was surprising, but also a relief.

"Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?" The one who had yelled the charm shouted, before adding to his companions, "Spread out. He's here."

Six of the Death Eaters were running their way, and there was a panicky moment in which Allen and Lavi tried to back up different ways, and whoever Lavi had a hold of made a sharp jerk in another direction. Harry made a wordless sound of alarm, tugging until they all safely slipped away just in time, the Death Eater's passing by inches. They waited in the darkness, listening and watching as beams of light flew about the street.

"We should just leave!" Hermione whispered frantically, "Disapparate now!"

"Yeah, probably," Ron agreed. Before Harry could reply, another Death Eater called loudly,

"We know you're here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"

"They were ready for us," Harry hissed, disappointed and irritated, "The must have put a spell up to tell them when we got here, and they probably have done something to trap us here."

Seconds later, a new voice calling,

"What about dementers? Let 'em have free rein, they'd find him quick enough!"

"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his -"

"-'an dementers won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, not his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"

The noises of agreement were mostly covered by a snort of amusement from Lavi.

"'Kissed'?" He whispered, "What kind of punishment is that? Or is it-"

"This is no time to be making jokes!" Hermione snapped, "It's not even what you're thinking!"

"Well, maybe you wizards should make up sense able names," Lavi mumbled, "I mean, come on. Come up with a punishment called 'Kissed', what's the kids to think?"

A frantic, fearful noise from who Harry was almost sure was Malfoy shut them up. No doubt he realized it as well – to drive off dementers, Harry would have to use the Patronus charm, and then there would be no doubt as to who was here. They were trapped. He pushed his dread away.

"We're going to have to try an Disapparate, 'arry," Ron whispered.

Harry knew that it wouldn't work – the Death Eater's confidence was enough to show it wouldn't be so easy. And indeed, seconds later, they found the space around them solid to disapparation. They could not leave.

Cold began to descend, light began to disappear, including the stars. It left behind a pitch-darkness that stole all cold from them, and Harry's sweat turned to ice.

They retreated down a side street, moving as silently as they could. He knew only that they had to hurry and get away. He paid special attention to his 'extra' senses that let him know where those under his invisibility was. Everyone kept up well, and it was slightly trying, stumbling through the darkness while pulling along so many others.

And then dementers rounded the corner, at least ten of them, visible because they were a denser darkness than their surroundings. They glided noiselessly, and he could only guess they could sense fear, because moments later they were gliding toward him, set on their destination.

He could almost taste the despair they carried with them, and he felt himself dreading so badly what they could do, what they would do if he stood there. Then Allen, on his right, fell to his knees with a choked cry, and Lavi was shaking violently, swaying on his feet. He remembered the more extreme reactions the exorcists had had back when they had infiltrated the Ministry, and cursed.

He rose his wand, and the spell fell from his lips quietly. The silver stag burst forth and charged; the dementers scattered. One of the Death Eaters out of sight let out a cry of triumph.

"It's him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!"

With the dementers gone, the stars were starting to appear again, and the pounding footsteps were getting louder. Before he could be overcome with his panic, before he would be forced to fight, he heard the grinding of bolt nearby, and then light fell on him from the newly opened door on the left hand side of the street.

"Potter, in here, quick!" The voice was rough and vaguely familiar, but he didn't have time to think about it. He didn't hesitate, hissing,

"Go!" To the others, feeling them barrel through the door, and then almost bodily drag Allen and support Lavi through the door.

"Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!" muttered their savior, a tall man, who passed by them into the street and slamming the door shut behind him.

Harry took one glance around and realized they were in the Hog's Head Inn. A single candle was the only light by which they ran behind the counter and through a second doorway. Then up a rickety wooden staircase that they flew up as quick as they could. They emerged into a sitting room with a threadbare carpet and a small fireplace, above which was a single large oil painting of a blond girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of vacant sweetness.

There were shouts from the street below, but Harry wasn't concerned with it. He had Lavi's shaky help in getting Allen to a chair, setting him in it gently.

"Kanda, Lavi?" He called softly, "Alright?"

"I'll survive," Lavi replied, the shakiness not apparent in his voice, "Those are some of the nastiest creatures I've ever come across though."

Kanda sneered slightly, but couldn't work up a good insult. No doubt, Harry thought, he'd been effected pretty badly as well.

"Allen?" He tried instead, "Can you hear me?"

"'m fine," The white haired teenager sighed weakly, "... Sorry."

"It's just fine," He reassured the other, "I'm not surprised, considering, but are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," Allen's voice was stronger this time, but Harry wouldn't be surprised if that was just a ploy, "I'll be fine in just a minute. Promise."

Harry frowned. He was concerned. He couldn't imagine what could be so horrible that the exorcists reacted more violently than he himself did, but he was positive he didn't want to know. He heard a gasp from by the window.

"Harry!" Hermione whispered, "He's trying to cover up your patronus with his own. It's a goat!"

He wasn't very concerned, really, in comparison, but he forced himself to his feet anyway. He felt a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder, and knew it was Lavi. He nodded in thanks, even though the other couldn't see it, and made way to stand by the window.

"_You_ set off the Caterwauling Charm?" One of the Death Eaters was exclaiming.

"What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door?" The old man was, Harry recognized now, the owner of the Hogs Head, and the only one not wearing a hood, "Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven't pressed your little Dark Marks and summoned him. He's not going to like being called here for me and my old cat, is he, now?"

Draco and Kanda both snorted at the same time, and Harry grinned outright since nobody could see. He could imagine Voldemort being called, thinking that 'the boy' had come for the last Horcrux (Which they really were), and finding out it was only an old man and his cat. It was almost amusing enough for him to entertain the idea, before he remembered the Dark Lord would probably kill them both.

"Don't you worry about us," One of the Death Eaters sneered, "worry about yourself, breaking curfew!"

"And where will you lot traffick potions and poisons when my pub's closed down? What'll happen to your little sidelines then?"

"Are you threatening – "

"I keep my mouth shut, it's why you come here, isn't it?"

"I still say I saw a stag Patronus!"

"Stag?" Roared the barman, "It's a _goat_, idiot!"

"Alright, we made a mistake," The supposed leader of the group said, "Break curfew again and we won't be so lenient!"

Harry watched as the Death Eaters retreated back up the street, and when they were out of sight, he pulled the curtains. Hermione let out a moan of relief, and he moved over to the mantle piece. He spotted the rectangular mirror propped up underneath the portrait, of which he recognized. He listened with one ear as the barman climbed the stairs and then entered the room.

"You bloody fools," He said gruffly, looking around the room. He was probably completely unaware that Kanda had slipped behind him. "What were you thinking, coming here? And take off the Cloak, why don't you?"

"Thank you," Harry said as he let the invisibility fall, causing the barman to jump violently and take a couple steps away from Kanda, "We can't thank you enough for your help."

He watched the man look around and look at each of them in turn. He approached the man, looking past the long, stringy, wire-gray hair and beard, behind the spectacles and it's dirty lenses. He stared at the piercing, brilliant blue of the eyes he found there.

"I saw your eye in the mirror," He announced, remembering the way he'd gone through his truck and found the shards of Sirius's mirror, just a day or two before he'd met the exorcists in the akuma attack, "Just the once. I probably wouldn't have remembered, but you have the other mirror."

There was silence for a few seconds as they stared at each other. Then the old man nodded and said,

"Lot of good that did though, when you never took it out of that bag of yours again."

"Are you the one who sent Dobby too? How did you know, then?"

"I had the elf check in on you, every once in a while. He came back to tell me when you'd gotten captured. Where is he, anyway?"

"Can't be sure," Harry replied easily, "We left him at Shell Cottage."

The barman nodded slightly, turning away to light the lamps with his wand. It took Harry a few moments of staring before he realized,

"You're Aberforth."

He got no response, but he took it as a positive.

"How did you get this?" He asked, approaching the mirror that had been Sirius's, the twin to the one he'd broken almost two years ago. He resisted the urge to touch it, instead glancing around and making sure everyone else was alright still.

"Bought it from Dun 'bout a year ago," Aberforth replied, "Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you."

"The silver doe!" Ron gasped suddenly, turning to the old man excitedly, "Was that you too?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!"

"Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. Haven't I just proved my Patronus is a goat?"

"Oh," Ron frowned, leaning back against the wall and sighing, "Yeah... well... I'm just hungry."

"I got food," Aberforth disappeared from the room, entering once more with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead. He placed it all on the small table in front of the fire, and Harry let Hermione and Ron get into it first before he tentatively joined. He coaxed Kanda into taking a bite or two, while Allen and Lavi needed no encouragement.

"Right then," Aberforth said when they had eaten all they could and sat around contently, "We need to think of the best way to get you out of here. Can't be done by night, you heard what happens if-"

"Thanks for your help and all," Harry interrupted apologetically, "But we're not leaving. We need to get into Hogwarts."

"Don't be stupid, boy."

"We've got to," He insisted.

"What you've got to do," The barman replied evenly, "is to get as far from here as you can."

"Look, we don't have much time," Harry shook his head, "We need to get into the castle. It's important."

"I'm sure it is, but is it a job an unqualified wizard kid able to do without over stretching themselves?"

Hermione looked strained, and Ron covered his grim, uncomfortable laugh with a cough. Malfoy appeared to be about to laugh outright.

"It's not exactly easy," Harry admitted, "But I've got to -"

''Got to'? Why '_got to_'?" Aberforth leaned forward, eyes narrowed, the fire glinting off his glasses, "This is something my brother put you up to, isn't it? Forget it! You should get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country. He's dead, and you don't owe him anything."

"Dumbledore _did_ ask me to do this," Harry stood up straighter, feeling irritated and ruffled, "but I'm not doing it just for him. _He_ hasn't won until we let him win. What about you? You're in the Order of the Phoenix, aren't you? You're fighting too."

"Brave words, but ultimately foolish. The Order is dead and gone, boy. You're going to follow my brother to the grave. Tell me, did he tell you what to do? Was he completely honest with you?"

He blinked, and then almost scowled. He could remember Skeeter's book vividly. There were so many things that he hadn't known, so many things that he'd thought he'd known but was wrong about, that he'd stopped trying to unravel Dumledore's mysteries.

"I appreciate you help," He said, "I do. But I've made up my mind, and you can't change it. If you can help us, that'd be great, but if not, we'll be out of your hair in the morning. This is war. If we're the only ones fighting, then we'll keep at it until we win, or die. I'm not stupid, I know very well what could happen."

"You're only seventeen!"

"Which means I'm of age, thanks," He nodded decisively, "I... I don't know what to think much anymore, about Dumbledore. I'd like to talk to you about him maybe, someday. I have a feeling there's so much I don't know that you can tell me."

"Harry," Hermione started in concern, looking something close to appalled, perhaps in his declaration of a lack of faith in their old headmaster. Ron appeared uneasy, and Malfoy was just uncomfortable in being there. The exorcists only watched, quietly.

"None of it's good," Aberforth shot back, "You'd be better off forgetting this. And you-" He glared at the exorcists, "I've heard a bit about you three. Did my brother put you up to this too?"

"Yes," Allen answered serenely.

"You're all just children," The barman almost cursed, "I can't believe he would do something like this."

"With all due respect," Allen smiled his I-might-die-but-I'll-do-it-happily smile, "This is our job. He only contacted us to watch over Harry while doing our jobs, so we'd be doing this anyway."

The old man shook his head, his mouth moving as if talking to himself. Then, abruptly, he spun and walked up to the portrait,

"You know what to do," He said.

She smiled in a way vaguely reminiscent of Luna's, then turned and walked away. She didn't disappear from the frame like most people in portraits did, instead walking along a trail that led to far behind her, her figure becoming smaller and smaller until she was swallowed by darkness.

"That's..." Lavi whistled, his eye glinting in curiosity, "That's pretty interesting. Do all portraits do that?"

"They move, if that's what you're asking," Hermione replied in her bookish voice, "Though they don't usually walk away like that. Usually they walk out the sides."

Draco sent Lavi a decidedly strange stare, causing the redhead to blink and ask,

"What?"

"...I keep forgetting you're pretty much a muggle."

Aberforth's eyebrows shot up, and Harry caught his attention before he could ask more questions,

"What's she doing?"

"There's only one way into the castle now," The other explained slowly, "The old passageways are all blocked, after all, and the place has never been so heavily guarded before. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies... well, that's you lookout, isn't it? You say you're prepared to die."

Harry rose an eyebrow of his own, and briefly had a flash of morbid amusement. If only he knew, he thought.

Then a tiny white dot reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and then the girl was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she neared. This time, however, somebody else came with her, someone who was taller than she was, limping and looking excited.

His hair was longer than he'd ever seen it, and his face wore several long gashes, his clothes ripped. When they were so close that their heads and shoulders fit in the portrait, the whole this swung forward like a door, and behind it was a real tunnel. And from it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, climbed the read Neville Longbottom, who almost roared with delight, leaping down and yelling,

"I knew you'd come! _I knew it, Harry!_"

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A/N: I don't like chapters in which a lot of the book is used so much D: Either way, hope everyone likes it (It's a little bit longer...), and I hope everyone has Happy Holidays!

Review!


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: So sorry for being late a day. My sleeping schedule had been really messed up, and then I suddenly started to feel really tired and so I went to bed early – only to wake up feeling pretty bad. I feel better now though, and hopefully it won't make a comeback.

__--*--__

"Neville?"

But Neville had spotted Hermione and Ron, and were picking them up in hugs too. Even though he looked dirtier and more wounded than Harry had ever seen him, Neville still shone with happiness.

"I knew you'd come!" He exclaimed excitedly, "Kept telling Seamus it was a matter of time!"

"Neville, what's happened to you?"

"What? This?" Neville gave a dismissing motion with his hand, "This is nothing. Seamus is worse. You'll see. Shall we get going then? Ab, there might be a couple more people on the way."

"Couple more?" Repeated Aberforth, "What d'you mean, a couple more, Longbottom? There's a curfew and a Caterwauling Charm on the whole village!"

"I know, that's why they'll be Apparating directly into the bar," Neville shrugged, "Just send them down the passage when they get here, will you? Thanks a lot."

He held out a hand to Hermione and helped her to climb onto the mantelpiece and into the tunnel. Ron followed, and when Malfoy stepped up with a sneer, Neville mused in faint surprise,

"I didn't notice you, Malfoy. What _are_ you doing here?"

"None of your business," Draco snapped.

"Is it that hard to act human to other people?" Harry wondered aloud, only a little surprised that the other had gone immediately back to his insulting ways, though perhaps he was a little less so than before.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to have him along, Harry?" Neville frowned at the Slytherin with a hard glint in his eye that had never been there before, "He's not exactly known for his truthfulness or his reliability."

"It's alright," Harry replied, watching as Malfoy then pushed by the other Gryffindor an into the tunnel where the other two waited. At Neville's reproachful look, he added, "He can't tell anyone anything. He's safe enough. He's actually been helpful to us."

"Imagine that!" Neville exclaimed with a surprised and awed expression.

Then Allen and Lavi approached, and Neville's stare was much more interested and curious than before.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Lavi asked, "I mean... completely?"

"We wouldn't climb in here first if we weren't sure," Hermione said with a strained sort of smile.

"Well, forgive me for not walking into pictures very often," Lavi grumbled while easily hopping into the tunnel. He turned and batted his eyelashes, "Need any help, Yuu?"

"I will cut you," Kanda promised calmly, ignoring the way both Aberforth and Neville's eyes were drawn to the way he reached down to touch the hilt of Mugan. He then jumped into the tunnel, and Allen waited beside Harry while Neville then followed after seeing then wait for a moment.

"I thank you," Harry told Aberforth, "You've saved our lives twice now. I still hope to talk to you one day."

"Look after 'em then," The old man replied gruffly. "I might not be able to save 'em a third time. And if you're still alive, then whatever suits your fancy."

Harry nodded before going to the mantelpiece. He didn't need any help, but he let Allen guide him by his elbow anyway. The concern felt nice, at least.

The tunnel appeared fairly old, with smooth stone steps and the floor had been worn smooth. There were brass lamps lining the walls, and the shadows danced almost morbidly as they walked.

"How long's this been here?" Ron asked as they started, "It isn't on the Marauder's Map, is it, Harry? I thought there were only seven passages in and out of school?"

"They sealed off all of those before the start of the year. There's no chance of getting though any of them now, not with curses over the entrances and Death Eaters and dementers waiting at the exits," Neville started walking backwards so that he could watch them, beaming, "Never mind that stuff... Is it true? Did you break into Gringotts? Did you escape on a dragon? It's everywhere, everyone's talking about it, that and your new friends. Terry Boot got beaten up by Carrow for yelling about the break in in the Great Hall at dinner!"

"Yeah," Harry smiled softly, glad that at least someone else found it more exciting and good than he had. "We did."

Neville laughed gleefully.

"What about the dragon?" He asked, then looked at Allen, "And is it true that you guys are from a secret organization of soldiers?"

"We released it into the wild," Ron said, "It was wicked – except, you know, that it was blind and we thought it would turn over mid-flight at any second."

"We're..." Allen looked thoughtful before giving a soft smile, "We're something like that."

"We saw that article," Neville continued, "It was bloody brilliant, it was the talk of the school for _ages_. Everyone's been wondering what you're up to, Harry, and some people think you're on the run and that those things were just coincidence, but I don't think so. I think you've been up to something."

"Oh, it wasn't obvious by now?" Lavi wondered, genuinely surprised, "Little Harry's been up to some devious stuff, you know."

"Have you been teaching him?" The other asked eagerly, "I heard that you guys had some kind of super magic that made you really strong."

"Not quite," Lavi chuckled, "In fact, we don't have any magic at all. We're what you guys call 'muggle', I guess."

"You're kidding," Neville blinked rapidly, flabbergasted, "How's that possible? I mean, you've been protecting Harry right? I read that magic doesn't really work on those akuma things, but what about other wizards?"

"Secret," The redhead winked with a friendly grin, and it only seemed to make Neville more fascinated.

"What about Hogwarts, Neville?" Harry quickly intervened, "We haven't heard anything about it, really."

"It's..." Neville's smile faded, "It's not really.... well, like Hogwarts, anymore. Do you know about the Carrows?"

"Those two Death Eaters that teach here?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"They do more than teach. They're in charge of all discipline. They like punishment, the Carrows."

"Like Umbridge?"

"Nah, they made her look tame. The other teachers are all suppose to refer us to the Carrows if we do anything wrong. They don't, though, if they can avoid it. You can tell they all hate them as much as we do," Neville's face and eyes darkened and he looked pensive, "Amycus, the bloke, he teaches what used to be Defense Against the Dark Arts, except now it's just the Dark Arts. We're suppose to practice the Cruciatus Cruse on people who've earned detentions – "

"_What_?"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's voices echoed throughout the passage, and Lavi have a sympathy wince and murmured,

"Harsh."

"Yeah," Neville nodded in agreement, "That's how I got this one."

He pointed at a gash on his cheek that looked pretty deep.

"I refused to do it. Some people are into it, though. Crabbe and Goyle love it. First time they've ever been top in anything, I expect."

Harry listened to Neville explain how he got another gash on his other cheek by asking Alecto, Amycus's sister, how much muggle blood she and her brother had. Ron was surprised, and mentioned how there was a time and place for those kinds of things, but Neville defended his choice, and mentioned their reluctance to spill to much pure blood, and that they wouldn't kill them because of it.

"The only people in real danger," He was saying now, "are the one's whose friends and relatives on the outside are giving trouble. They get taken hostage. Old Xeno Lovegood was getting a bit too outspoken in _The Quibbler_, so they dragged Luna off the train on the way back for Christmas."

"We know all about that," Harry replied somewhat darkly, "But it's alright, Luna's safe now."

"Yeah I know. She managed to get a message to me."

Neville pulled a golden coin from his pocket, and Harry recognized it as one of the fake Galleons that Dumbledore's Army had used.

"These have been great," The other boy was beaming again, and then explained how they had used it to pass messages and to sneak out and put graffiti on the walls, suck as 'Dumbledore's Army, Still Recruiting.'

"You _use to_?" Harry repeated.

"Well, it got more difficult as time went on," The other answered, "We lost Luna at Christmas, and Ginny never same back after Easter, and the three of us were the leaders, of a sort. The Carrows seemed to know I was behind a lot of it, so they started coming down on me hard, and then Micheal Corner went and got caught releasing a first-year they'd chained up, and they tortured him pretty badly. That scared people off."

"That's sick," Allen finally spoke up, his anger shimmering coldly in his voice, "Aren't any of the parents aware of this?"

"Maybe not the full extent," The Gryffindor replied honestly, "It's not something they can do much about, I guess, but-"

"If a child I knew was being treated like that in school," Lavi said conversationally, "I would hunt down those that did it and they would never be the same. At _least_, I would un-enroll them."

"Too many people are afraid to," Hermione argued, "They're afraid they'll be hunted down, and killed, and they _would_ be, probably."

"The whole world doesn't run on the same government," Lavi replied in a similar voice, "Move to America, or Germany, or somewhere else. They might still be tracked down, but there's less of a chance, and I would rather risk that that definite abuse to a family member."

"But that wouldn't stop Him," Harry put in softly, making them pause in though, "He would still be here, and then he would only gather power until he attacked other places too."

"Yeah," Lavi agreed, "But for a normal person, I would think they were less worried about taking Him down and just getting as safe as they could be. Not everyone is charged with being the Boy-Who-Lived, they should be looking out for their safety more."

"But don't you see, that _is_ what they're doing!" Hermione cried impatiently.

"But it's sad that this is happening at all," Allen overpowered Lavi's annoyed reply with his own, "At a school, to other children. I am glad, at least, that I was able to help Harry in this."

"..." Harry glanced at the exorcist from the corner of his eyes, "...I'm glad you've been here to help me too."

Allen sent him a happy, friendly smile that he always seemed to have on hand. Harry didn't feel cheated that the other could give it so easily, but he did think briefly to back when he was so suspicious of the exorcists, and how he was now good friends with them.

"Aw, are we getting mushy?" Lavi crowed with a large grin, "'Cause I could totally go for a big group hug right now."

"No hugs," Kanda immediately snapped, "And no touching either."

"You all seem to have gotten really close..." Neville observed, "I guess months on the run can do that to a person."

"...Yeah," Harry gave a small shrug, just a little embarrassed, and wondered if it was alright that some of that time had been much less than horrifying and painful, and that he'd had fun times too. It seemed wrong that he had, when Neville and the other students at Hogwarts obviously had been going through some pretty horrible stuff.

"I'm surprised that you're still around then, Neville, if you've been causing such a stir," Hermione then commented.

"Oh, they tried to get rid of me," The other boy grinned cheekily, "First they went after Gran, but she got away, and the bloke that went after her, Dawlish, is still in St. Mungo's. She sent me a letter, saying that she's proud of me, and that I'm my parent's son. After that, they went after me personally, and I ran."

"But aren't we going straight back into Hogwarts?" Ron asked, confused, and Harry agreed.

"'Course," Neville nodded, "You'll see. We're here."

They had already turned the corner and spotted portrait at the top of a short flight of stairs by the time he said this, and Neville pushed it open to climb through. Harry wasn't the first person through after that, but he heard Neville calling loudly,

"Look who it is! Didn't I tell you?"

The room Harry walked into exploded in shouts and yells and screams of his name, and Ron and Hermione's names, and he barely got a glance of the room, which seemed to be made up of many colored hangins, before he was engulfed in a huge crowd. His back was pounded, and his hair ruffled, and he was hugged, shaken, and jostled until he had a hard time seeing straight. There was at least twenty people there, and had familiar faces swimming in and out of his vision for several moments before Neville called,

"Okay, okay, calm down!"

The crowd back away, and Harry realized a hand still rested on his shoulder. He was surprised to find that it was Allen's, keeping him steady and watching out for him, even as Lavi and Kanda watched out for Ron Hermione, and Malfoy. Lavi was nudging a slightly blushing Ron, who was probably ecstatic from getting such an enthusiastic welcome.

The room was not one Harry recognized. It was enormous, and it looked like the inside of a giant tree house. There were multi-colored hammocks everywhere from a balcony that ran around the dark wood-paneled and windowless walls. There were indeed tapestry hangings, portraying each house except Slytherin. There were bulging bookcases and a few broomsticks propped up on the walls, and a large wooden cased wireless.

"Where are we?" He asked, though he had a a sneaking suspicion he knew where.

"Room of Requirement, or course!" Neville exclaimed, "Surpassed itself, hasn't it? The Carrows were chasing me, and I knew I had just one chance for a hideout: I managed to get through the door and this is what I found! Well, it wasn't exactly like this when I arrived, it was a load smaller, there was only one hammock and just Gryffindor hangings. But it's expanded as more and more of the D.A. Have arrived."

"And nobody can get in?" Harry asked, looking for the door.

"No," It was Seamus Finnigan, whom Harry hadn't recognized until he'd spoken. The other's face was extremely bruised and swollen, "It's a proper hideout, as long as one of us stays in here, they can't get at us, the door won't open. It's all down to Neville. He really _gets_ this room-"

Harry listened halfheartedly as he looked around. He could see now, he recognized many faces. Both Patil twins, for example, as well as Terry Boot, Ernie Macmillan, Anthony Goldstein, and Michael Corner. Neville replied to some of Seamus's praise with modesty, and listened to the tale of the portrait appearing when he'd started getting really hungry, and how Aberforth had been supplying food for everyone. He noticed that the exorcists were really interested in the room, and that Draco looked quite uncomfortable. There was more than a few hostile glares sent his way, and he was very cautious.

"Tell us what you've been up to, though," Ernie broke through Harry's thoughts, "There've been so many rumors, we've been trying to keep up with you on _Potterwatch_. You didn't break into Gringotts?"

"They did!" Neville almost laughed, "And the dragon's true too!"

There was applause and whoops of excitement, and Ron took a bow. Lavi laughed in amusement, while Kanda rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"What were you after?' Seamus asked eagerly.

"I can't s-"

Harry was cut off mid-sentence as rage overcame him mind and soul, and then he was looking at a rotting shack, the floorboards ripped apart to reveal a golden box, laying open and empty beside the hole. Voldemort's scream of fury reverberated inside his head, making everything spin and his forehead feel like it was being ripped apart. It took a lot of effort to wrench himself away from the vision, and then he was standing in the Room of Requirement again, swaying only slightly because Allen was still holding him steady.

"Are you alright?" Neville started in concern, "Want to sit down, Harry? I expect you're tired, aren't you?"

"No," Harry replied, paused, then shook his head. He looked at his companions, and tried to convey his need to hurry, "I mean yes, actually, I'm tired, but we don't have time to rest. We need to hurry."

Allen's eyes darkened, and Lavi's face and voice turned somber. Kanda watched him alertly, and Hermione and Ron appeared to also have understood, while Malfoy took a long moment before he seemed to realize what had happened.

"What are we going to do then, Harry?" Seamus asked, "What's the plan?"

"Plan?" Harry repeated, glancing back and seeing that Allen was very carefully covering his scar. It didn't seem to be bleeding, but then his vision swam slightly and he had to concentrate hard on not succumbing to the vision. "We don't really have one. There's something we need to do, and then we're leaving."

Nobody laughed or made any sound at all for long moments. Neville blinked in confusion.

"What d'you mean, 'leave'?"

"We can't stay here," Harry replied, rubbing at his scar and wishing frantically the pain would stop so that he could think clearly. "We have to do something, it's important, but-"

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you exactly," He struggled, and the hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, and for a moment he also fault with his almost irrational fear of telling anybody what they were doing, because Dumbledore had told his sternly not to tell, and what good had his old Headmaster's words done him lately? He shook off that dark train of though, reminding himself that just because he was confused and a little hurt at Dumbledore, it was no reason to start acting stupid or thinking the man hadn't known what he was talking about.

"Why not? It's something to do with fighting You-Know-Who, right?"

"Of course-"

"Then we'll help you."

The other members of Dumbledore's Army nodded, some stood, and they varied from enthusiastic to solemn. Some appeared very much ready to start doing something, anything, to fight now, immediately, and there was a stray thought, a bit of pity, because he knew he would have loathed being in their position. It was like being stuck in Grimmauld Place all over again, and he wasn't helping them at all.

He needed to think clearly. He crushed his fear of wasting any and every second on simply breathing in a simple meditation technique to calm him and push the pain away, knowing those long moments were worth it, because facing Voldemort with a clouded mind would do more harm than good.

When he thought he was thinking much more clearly, and the pain in his scar, which had not lessened, was pushed as far back as it could go, he looked out at the small sea of faces.

"Listen," And they definitely appeared to be listening quite intently, leaning forward, their faces shining in determination, "I didn't come back here to fight."

"Why not?" Neville demanded, "We want to fight – We're Dumbledore's Army-"

"I _know_ that but-"

And then the tunnel door opened again, interrupting him, and more figures appeared in the doorway.

"We got your message, Neville! Hello you three, I thought you must be here! And you brought friends!"

It was Luna and Dead, and as the stepped through, Seamus gave a roar of delight and ran to hug his best friend.

"Hi, everyone!" Luna said happily, "Oh, it's great to be back!"

"Luna?" Harry blinked, frowning slightly, "What're you doing here? How did you-?"

"I sent for her," Neville explained, holding up the fake Galleon, "I promised her and Ginny that if you turned up, I'd let them know. We all thought that if you came back, it would mean revolution. That we were going to overthrow Snape and the Carrows."

'Of course that's what it means, isn't it, Harry?" Luna was still bright and happy, "We're going to fight them out of Hogwarts?"

"That's not what I came back for," Harry could feel his panic threatening to rise, and he still crushed it down, "I told you, we have to do something, but-"

"You're just going to leave us in this mess?" It was Michael Corner who demanded.

"No!" Ron exclaimed, "We're trying to get rid of You-Know-Who, you know that-"

"Then let us help!" Neville began to get angry now, "We want to be a part of it!"

Harry swallowed the first reply he'd had, because it was more callous than necessary, and it's not like he was trying to upset anyone. But then he heard more noise, and found more people climbing through the portrait hole. First came Ginny, followed closely by Fred, George, and Lee Jordan. For a moment he couldn't take his eyes off Ginny, who smiled so brightly it almost hurt him to look at. He'd forgotten what it was like to see her again, but it was soured because now was a horrible time for it to happen.

"Aberforth's getting a bit annoyed," Fred said, waving slightly to those that cried out to him, "He wants a kip, and his bar's turned into a railway station."

Cho Chang stepped out from behind Lee Jordan, and Harry supposed it was some kind of mix of his training and recent events that allowed him not to gape like an idiot. She still sent him a smile though.

"I got the message," She said, holding up her own fake Galleon, then walked over to sit beside Michael Corner.

"So what's the plan, Harry?" George asked.

"None," Harry frowned, thinking as quickly as he could, "There is no plan."

"just going to make it up as we go along, are we? My favorite kind!" Fred grinned, waving at Lavi, who gave a similar mischievous grin back.

Harry took deep breaths, thinking still, and Dean asked,

"So, we're fighting, right?"

"...Listen," Harry finally said again, and everyone did, "I didn't come back here to fight."

He ignored the frowns and whispers, as well as those who tried to call out loudly at him, and whether they were cries of anger or of accusation, he didn't know.

"We have been searching for certain things, and we know there's one here, in Hogwarts. We must find it," He looked around the room, catching Allen's approval from over his shoulder and Lavi's thumbs up. Ron and Hermione nodded reverently. Those around his didn't seem satisfied, so he added, "What we're looking for is more that important to bring You-Know-Who down, it's mandatory. He won't fall if we don't find these things. There's no point in fighting, because even if we win, he will not die. Do you understand?"

The faces mirrored confusion, unease, anger, confusion, and uncertainty. Most wore a mix of them all, and he could see Malfoy watching him as if there wasn't anything else in the room, with an expression of fascination.

"What we're looking for is something that may have belonged to Ravenclaw. We don't know where it is. Anybody who can help us find this would be great. It should have her eagle on it," He looked around again, and let a little of his hope show on his face, "I'm sorry I'm not here for what you wanted, but we're really short on time."

It was Luna who answered,

"Well, there's her lost diadem of Ravenclaw. I told you about it, remember, Harry? The lost diadem of Ravenclaw? Daddy's trying to duplicate it."

"Yeah, but the lost diadem," Said Michael Corner, rolling his eyes, "is _lost_, Luna. That's sort of the point."

Lavi let out a chuckle, causing several eyes to swivel to him.

"When was it lost?" Harry asked instead of running out of the room in search of it like he wanted to.

"Centuries ago, they say," Cho replied, and Harry tried to not feel so dejected, "Professor Flitwick says the diadem vanished with Ravenclaw herself. People have looked, but nobodies ever found a trace of it, have they?"

Everyone else shook their heads.

"Sorry, but what _is_ a diadem?" Rom blushed only slightly as he asked.

"It's kind of a crown," surprisingly, it was Lavi who explained, "I think I actually remember reading about this kind of thing. Wasn't it suppose to enhance the wisdom of who ever wore it?"

Luna and Dean looked suitably surprised, since they knew that the exorcist wasn't magical, and not even part of it's community. They nodded slightly, though, and Lavi grinned triumphantly.

"And excuse my rudeness," Neville started politely, "But who are you?"

"This is Lavi," Harry spoke quickly, hardly paying attention as he spoke because he was thinking too hard, "as well as Allen Walker, and Kanda Yuu. They're helping me."

"It's our job to exterminate akuma," Allen added. It was then Harry realized that the other's hand wasn't on his shoulder anymore, and that his eye had deactivated. It appeared slightly irritated, but at least he wasn't crying blood.

"If you'd like to see what it's suppose to look like, I could take you up to our common room and show you, Harry?" Cho offered, "Ravenclaw's wearing it in her statue."

Harry blinked as she was replaced for just a moment with dark earth soaring beneath him, and a great snake wrapped around his shoulders. Then it was gone, and the pain was harder to ignore. He didn't know which Horcrux Voldemort was going to next, but he looked at his companions and murmured the news.

"I'm going to go look at this statue," He added, "at least to find out what the diadem looks like. Wait for me here, just in case, and make sure every things alright."

Cho got to her feet, but Ginny interrupted rather fiercely, "No, Luna will take Harry, won't you, Luna?"

"Oooh, yes, I'd like to," Luna smiled happily, and Cho sat back down again looking disappointed. Lavi let out a low whistle, which soared and wavered comically when he was elbowed in the ribs harshly by Kanda.

"How do we get out?" Harry asked Neville.

"Over here."

"I'll go with you," Allen added, tagging along on the way to a small corner where a small cupboard opened onto a steep staircase.

"It comes out somewhere different every day, so they've never been able to find it," Neville explained, "Only trouble is, we never know exactly where we're going to end up when we go out. Be careful, Harry, they're always patrolling the corridors at night."

"It's not a problem," Harry nodded, "See you in a bit."

And so they stepped out onto the staircase. It was long and dark, turning around corners in unexpected placed. The torches made the shadows dance eerily. Harry took a deep breath, and began to walk.

__--*--__

A/N: None of you have any idea how much I'm dreading school starting back up again D: At least the school years about half way over.

Anyways, it's New Years Eve, so I hope everyone has an awesome New Year (Even though so many people wished that to me already XD)

Review? You guys are amazing.


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: 0.0 So sorry! We had some more modem problems that wasn't fixed until very recently. All done and fixed _now_ of course, and I apologize for the wait.

Anyway, mostly everyone has gone back to school by now, right? Unless you're in college, in which case, your break is probably a bit longer XD

I'm going to try to start deviating starting now. Not a huge amount, but I don't want to just rewrite the ending of the HP book to include the exorcists. That would be NO fun. So. Yeah.

__--*--__

The door did not have a doorknob, nor a keyhole. It was made of aged wood, and the only decoration was a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle, which wasn't a surprise, since it was the door leading to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Harry didn't see Luna's hand reach out to take a hold of the knocker, because she was under his invisibility, but he saw it move seconds before she used it. It sounded like an explosion in the silence, and he couldn't help but look around cautiously. The road here hadn't been long, necessarily, but it had been one of the most nerve wracking one's of his life. He'd expected something to appear and find them any second, and his heart hadn't stopped pounding since.

Then the door itself spoke in a soft, musical voice,

"Which came first, the phoenix, or the flame?"

"Hmm... That do you think, Harry?" Luna asked thoughtfully.

"You have to answer a _riddle_?" He replied slightly incrudeously, "That's so... Ravenclaw..."

"Of course it is," She said with a slight bit of confusion.

"What happens if you get it wrong?" Allen wondered aloud curiously.

"Well, you have to wait for somebody who gets it right."

"Yeah," Harry frowned, "Problem is, we don't have time to do that, Luna."

"No, I see what you mean," Luna sounded serious, "Well then, I think the answer is that a circle has no beginning."

"Well reasoned," The voice from the door said, and the door swung open.

The Ravenclaw common room was empty, thankfully, and it was wide and circular. The windows were gracefully arched on blue and bronze silks. The ceiling was domed, and there were tables, chairs, and bookcases around the room. And opposite to the door was a tall white statue made of marble.

Harry recognized Rowena Ravenclaw easily. He approached it was an intense curiousity, and she almost seemed to return his stare with a similar, quizzical half-smile of her own. There was indeed a circlet upon her head, and It was similar to the one Fleur had worn at her wedding. There were words etched into it, and he stepped forward to see it better before reading it aloud,

"'_Wit beyond measure is mans greatest treasure_'."

"Which makes you pretty skint, witless," Announced another voice from behind him.

He whirled around, dodging to another foot just in case there was a spell headed his way, though there was not. Before him was the figure of Alecto Carrow, and before he could even blink, she'd pressed a stubby forefinger to the Dark Mark branded on her forearm.

Pain instantly radiated from his scar, erasing everything he saw before him and replacing it with the sight of standing on an outcrop of rock beneath a cliff, the sea washing around him, and Voldemort knew – _They have the boy._

He shoved it away as fast as he knew how. He realized with a small start of panic that the invisibility had been wiped away; The suddenness of the pain had knocked aside his concentration and it had deactivated. But then he heard a great thump and a flash of silver. He looked up and focused to realize that Allen had reacted, pinning Alecto down and restraining her. Luna had followed quickly, stunning the woman. Allen let go wearily.

"You are very fast," Luna commented, nodded at Allen, "even faster than I'd thought."

Allen gave a small smile and a small inclination of the head, meant to acknowledge and thank. Harry ignored the throb of his scar that almost thrust him into another vision, and so he heard the heavy rap on the common room door. It almost sounded like something ramming against it, and he turned his head sharply as he heard the voice of the door say,

"Where do Vanished objects go?"

"I don't know," Snapped another voice, "Alecto? _Alecto?_ Answer me!"

There was some general stirring from upstairs as the Ravenclaws began to wake. The heavy thump of something heavy slamming against the door against caused the sounds to pause, then speed up and gain in number.

"Do you have Potter?" The other demanded, and Harry thought it really must be Amycus, Alecto's brother.

Then explosions blasted against the door, and he knew it was real ones this time. A flick of the wrist and both Luna and Allen disappeared from sight again. He heard students plowing down, and when they began to enter, cautiously, there were many gasps of shock and disbelief as they caught sight of Alecto's unmoving body. Another explosion sounded, and Harry could see the flash of flames from the bottom of the door.

It was then that Allen's eye suddenly activated. Harry couldn't see it happen, but he recognized both the sound and the feel of the air around them. He thought, for a moment, he could glimpse a dark shadow beyond and behind the door, but then it was gone and he shook the thought away. He wondered faintly why it'd taken the eye so long to activate, if Amycus was an akuma, but them decided he didn't care when he heard another voice cut in.

"What in the bloody hell-?!"

It was Professor McGonagall, Harry recognized her voice, and his eyes widened in both shock and fear for her. He heard the groan of an akuma shifting in the air, and promptly launched toward the door. He must not have been the only one with that idea, because he crashed into Allen at that exact moment, getting a sharp elbow to his ribs for his efforts. He stumbled with a startled grunt, hearing Allen give a sharp apology, before the door started to open.

_-*-_

McGonagall hadn't been having the best day of her life. In fact, the whole year had been horrible, and she was quite frankly tired of having her students live in fear, and boy did they have a right. Her school had been turned into a parade ground for Death Eaters in disguise, and often times those akuma creatures roamed the grounds too. She'd thought that they had been confined to outside, which is why the students didn't go out anymore. There was an early curfew, and she'd warned them herself not to venture outside. The Quidditch games of the year had been canceled because of those things.

She hadn't expected to find one _inside_ her school. She'd felt the wards jumping at her when the violence against the Ravenclaw door had began, so of course she'd made her way over there. She hadn't been that surprised to find Amycus banging at the door, but seconds later, she's watched transformation between human and akuma herself. It was rather horrifying.

"What in the bloody hell-?!"

It slipped from her on accident and she took a moment to realize it didn't really matter, when the explosions against the door, originating from the gun-like barrels on the akuma, stopped and started to fully turn to her. She dizzily remembered the loud, rash, fairly unintelligent man that Amycus had been when he'd first arrived here at the beginning of the year, and then realized that that 'change' he'd gone through that had made him quieter and stupider hadn't been because of fear or some kind of imperious curse.

The barrels clicked into place, locked onto her, and she reached for her wand. She knew better than to cast offensive spells at it, but she couldn't help feel extremely worry gnaw at her as she wondered how she would get the thing outside her school without harming anybody, including herself.

She threw up a strong shield as bullets exited the barrels at her, holding it would hold even as she put layers on layers of them. The Ravenclaw door burst open from beside the akuma, and she internally cursed that one of the students would actually come out here to see what was going on when this kind of noise was happening. She made to post a shield over the door way, but what emerged wasn't a student of hers, or indeed, anybody she'd ever met before at all.

She didn't get a look at their face – in fact, she probably wouldn't have even realized it was a person if she hadn't seen a normal, human hand outstretched in front of them. Other than that, all she saw was a great thing of silver and white emerging from the doorway like an inverted crawling shadow. It invaded the corridor, not stopping until they stood before her, and she blinked in utter bewilderment as she found a half-mask staring at her upside down from the hood it was attached to under a head full of white hair.

She didn't know what to think when the mask's eyes _moved_, going upturned as if in a smile.

The explosions were landing on the stranger, and not on her shields, but she smelled no blood and they didn't falter. The heat of it was stifling, and she stood there with a racing, confused mind. Then the rain of bullets ended and she watched the stranger lunged forwards, and impaled it with something strange. It looked like long sharp spears attached to their hand, and then the akuma exploded itself.

The very explosion of it rattled her shields, though they held, and she kept them up even when there wasn't anything left of it. The stranger turned to her, and she let her astonishment show when she found what appeared to be a young boy staring at her with a kind stare. She also found that his weapon appeared to _be_ his hand, and she had no idea what was going on.

Then somebody she _did_ recognize quickly exited the Ravenclaw common room, and she stared some more as Harry Potter, older, thiner, and more serious, approached her in concern.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, "Professor?"

"Potter...?" She whispered in shock the likes of which she hadn't felt in a long time, "What - ? How - ?"

"Long story," His face split in a small smile that looked so much like his mothers it hurt.

"Don't you _realize_?" She demanded, her panic rising, "You can't be here. You must flee!"

"I realize," Harry nodded firmly, his eyes holding a steely gaze that she never thought she'd see there, "Professor McGonagall, Voldemort's on his way."

"Oh, are we allowed to saw the name now?" Then Luna, of all people, emerged next, and McGonagall clutched her heart, summoning a chair with the wave of her hand so that she could collapse and not land on the floor.

"I doubt it makes any difference now," Harry replied, "He already knows I'm here."

His calm was almost as shocking as his appearance, and she pressed a hand to her face, shock and disbelief whispering in her ears.

"You _must_ flee," She repeated, her voice barely a whisper of her own now, "Now, Potter, as quickly as you can!"

"I can't," He at least looked apologetic as he watched her, and the stranger came to stand at his side. From here, she realized she could now see the strange eye that did not look human, and she could sense the most powerful curse she'd ever felt lingering on it. "There's something here I need to find, Professor, and it's extremely important. It might just be the diadem of Ravenclaw. Do you know where it is?"

"The d-diadem of Ravenclaw? Of course not – hasn't it been lost for centuries?" She forced herself to sit straighter, "Potter, it was madness, utter madness, for you to enter this castle –"

"No choice," He shook his head, still sternly, "He knows what I'm doing, and if he moves what we're looking for now, we might never find it, and then we'll never defeat him -"

She shook her head, and blinked in startlement as she saw somebody trying to dart from the room. It was the stranger who caught Alecto in a flash of silver, and then Luna who stunned her. The stranger brought the woman over to their little group, and McGonagall summoned ropes of shimmering silver which wrapped around and bound her.

"And who are you?" She asked with narrowed eyes, trying not to stare at that cursed eye in wonder.

"Professor, this is Allen Walker," Harry was the one to answer, "He's one of a very, very few amount of people who can destroy akuma, and there are two others here that are-"

She watched as the boy stumbled slightly and wavered, looking pale as his face twisted in pain for a brief moment. Allen was the one to reach out and steady Harry, holding him firmly with his normal hand. Then Harry seemed to return to himself.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"We're running out of time," He said quickly, standing straighter again, "Voldemort's getting nearer. Dumbledore is the one who asked me to do this, Professor, and I need to find something. We've got to evacuate the students while I'm searching, or else Voldemort will kill them to get to me, especially now-"

"_Dumbledore_ asked you to do this?" Her wonder increased, and she then stood, "We shall secure the school while you search for this – this object."

"Is that possible?"

_-*-_

"I think so," McGonagall said dryly, "we teachers are rather good at magic, you know. I am sure we will be able to hold him off for a while if we put out best efforts into it. Of course, something will have to be done about Professor Snape -"

Harry opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off.

"-and if Hogwarts is about to enter a state of siege, with the Dark Lord at the gates, it would indeed be advisable to take as many innocent people out of the way as possible. With the Flor Network under observation, and Apparition impossible within the grounds-"

"There's a way," He quickly said, and then explained about the passage to the Hogs Head, "Nobody will notice if everyone's concentrated on the school boundaries."

"There's something in that," She agreed. Her eyes fell on Allen again, and after a moment, Harry realized she didn't trust him. So he quickly added,

"Professor, Allen is something called an exorcist," Her eyes didn't budge, "There's two more here... Dumbledore is the one who contacted them and made a deal with them."

"Dumbledore?" She questioned, surprised, but moments later allowed her distrust to flow away a little more. Her eyes were still sharp when she looked back to the boy when he spoke, though,

"Professor," Allen said, and she watched as the silver of his cloak and the long, strange hand both disappeared to reveal a strange uniform and a hand that was almost normal, though it was black and had a strange green cross embedded in the back that glowed faintly. He tapped a symbol that was on his coat over his heart, "Dumbledore _did_ ask us to do this, and so we will. Anyone who wears this symbol, this cross, is apart of the Organization I'm apart of, and I assure you that they can be trusted."

"How old are you, Allen Walker?" She asked, suspicious. He frowned, but answered dutifully,

"I'm sixteen ma'am. But if it's my age you're worried about, you shouldn't be. I have been an exorcist for a while now, and training for many years before that."

It probably wasn't that his age worried her, Harry thought, as it did sadden her. But then she gave a sharp nod and with the wave of her hand, she had Alecto hanging from the ceiling,

"Come. We must alert the other Heads of House. You'd better put that cloak back on."

"Well, we don't have to put it on, per se," Harry grinned just a little at her confused look, and he reactivated the invisibility with a spare thought. She gasped when all three of them abruptly disappeared.

"What's this?"

"'This'," he gave a nod even if she couldn't see it, "Is a bit complicated."

"Things always are, with you," She said with a bit of fondness in her voice that didn't fail to cause him to feel similar fondness and affection for her. Then she turned and began to walk at a brisk pace that surprised him. She made making three Patronuses on the fly look easy, and the three glowing silver catts ran ahead, eventually branching off into other hallways.

He was experienced in keeping up with long, brisk paces, so Harry was able to keep up fairly well. He could hear Luna jogging almost right beside him, while Allen lagged a little. He knew it wasn't because Allen had a hard time keeping up or anything of the sort. He wasn't sure why Allen was lagging, honestly. But two flights down he was brought away from his thoughts by the quiet warning Allen gave them.

Then an akuma stepped out from behind a suit of armor, floating, the end of it's pointed boots barely sweeping the floor. It was a level three, Harry knew, and it had some fearsome and Gothic type of armor on it's body. It had no eyes, which was a bit creepy, and he took care to notice the way that McGonagall tensed and trembled just a little. He didn't know if it was in fear or not, but he hated seeing her that way at all. It wasn't right.

And she probably had no idea what the difference of power was between the level one they'd just seen, and the level three they were seeing now.

"Hello," The akuma said, and for all the echo and power in it's voice, it was still very much Snape's. Harry stifled his initial confusion and apprehension as he remembered the akuma that had attacked him way back, at that first meeting with the exorcists. That had been Snape too, and he still had no idea how the potions professor had been able to control the akuma, since it was obvious now that it hadn't ever been Snape himself that was the akuma.

"Snape?" McGonagall asked in shock.

"Minerva," Snape greeted coldly, voice emotionless, face expressionless.

"How far you have fallen," She sneered at him softly, "That you have become one of these monsters."

"I have not, yet," His eyes roamed the area, twice skimming over Harry and Allen, "I know that he is here, Minerva."

"But of course you think so," She tilted her head, looking very much like her animagus form, "You Death Eaters have your own privet means of communication, I forgot."

"I can sense it," The voice was lighter and more strained now, "The stick of the Innocence. I have never gotten a hold of the mindset or senses of an akuma, not completely, but the clearest thing of all would be that. Yes, he is here, and I must insist that-"

Her speed was impressive; it was due completely to his training that Harry could see it coming at all. One moment the torch along the wall sat harmlessly, the next it was falling and the flame was lengthening into long coils of fire that wrapped around the Snape-akuma, more fire forming rings around him. A little force on his part, and the circles broke with grand sparks that shown against the suit of armor he'd previously been hiding behind.

Then the air became taunt, and Harry could almost see the air move into blade, all of which gouged tiny, nondescript gashes against the armor. It was no more than a paper cut really, if that. And Harry could feel that distant sixth sense of his that told him where everyone under his invisibility was, shift and flex, and he knew Allen was moving quickly.

"Minerva!" Another voice, a new one, squeaky, echoed up the corridors in a much more natural way than Snape's did on it's own, and both Professors Flitwick and Sprout ran towards them, still in their nightclothes. Professor Slughorn was bringing along the rear, lumbering along with effort..

None of them seemed to know what to do, though, even as Flitwick tried valiantly to join in the spell casting by animating the suit of armor, and none of the magic seemed to work. Snape seemed content to let them try, perhaps secure in the knowledge that it was all useless. He knew the exact moment, though, that Allen attacked, and after a brief moment, Harry dropped the invisibility on him so that nobody would accidentally hit him with a spell. At least, not on purpose.

The gasps that ensued when the bright, silver figure appeared was almost worth their weight in gold. Harry privately thought that it was an impressive sight – and that was saying a lot, since he'd gotten use to seeing Allen's almost pure figure coming out of no where, usually to save the day. With the fire light reflecting off him, he sometimes looked like a thing of fire instead of pure snow, like he usually did.

Snape was taken by surprise, but not destroyed. Harry was almost positive that the man recognized the exorcist, and he enjoyed the almost panicked expression the other wore for just a moment – it didn't last long, indeed, but it also wasn't that expressive in the first place. Akuma faces usually weren't.

Snape tried to flee, but one level three wasn't a match for Allen any more. Coupled with the exorcist's special sword, he was probably the worst nightmare possible for any akuma at all. It was an interesting dance for a moment or two, with destructive swings of the Sword of Exorcism and Snape trying to avoid every one. Which was pretty much impossible, and the first thing he lost was his right arm, followed by his left hand.

Then, with a twirl of his cloak, Allen slashed through Snape from his shoulder, to his hipbone, and Snape only laughed in a deranged sort of way before he exploded. Harry knew that the potions master wasn't dead, and probably not even harmed, but he was definitely going to flee from Hogwarts, if he hadn't already.

Allen landed at a three quarters view away from them, landing in the fall of moonlight the large floor-to-ceiling windows threw over the ground. The fire light glints and reflection were startlingly erased as he did, leaving only the pure silver and white, except for the black boots and the end of his pants, which blended in with the shadows so well that he appeared to be floating.

"Is he dead?" McGonagall asked, or rather, demanded.

"I don't think so," Harry was the one to answer, letting the invisibility fall from both himself and Luna, ignoring the gasps of astonishment from the other three professors as he did, "I don't know what he's doing, but he did the same thing a while back, when they attacked the Dursley's house. I'm pretty sure he's fine. He'll be back. Eventually."

"Then it's decided," She nodded sternly as she motioned to the place Snape had exploded, "The Headmaster has decided to take a break that may or may not be permanent."

Harry sucked in a harsh breath when he was shoved once again into another vision, this one of his looking into down at the inferi infested waters that he was too accustomed to, moments later climbing for the boat he rode in, raging and promising death-

"Professor," He barely restrained himself from shouting, "No time, we have to barricade the school, he's coming _now_."

"Very well," She looked at the other Heads of House, also ignoring the way they gasped in fear, "Potter had work to do in the castle on Dumbledore's orders. We need to put in place ever protection of which we are capable while Potter does what he needs to do."

"You realize, or course," Flitwick squeaked, "that nothing we do will be able to keep out You-Know_Who indefinitely?"

"But we can hold him up," Sprout sounded sure and determined.

"Thank you, Pomona," McGonagall said, sharing a look of understanding with the other woman, "I suggest we establish basic protection around the place, then gather our students and meet in the Great Hall. Most must be evacuated, though if any of those are over age wish to stay and fight, I think they ought to be given the chance."

"Agreed," Professor Sprout was already hurrying down the hall, "I shall meet you in the Great Hall in twenty minutes with my House."

She was gone from sight very quickly, muttering the names of dangerous and deadly plants under her breath. Allen was waiting patiently, but his eye was still activated, and that meant there were more akuma around.

"I can act from here," Flitwick said.

"Professor, I'm sorry to interrupt," Harry approached the other cautiously but quickly, "but this is important. Have you got any idea _where_ the diadem of Ravenclaw is?"

"The diadem of Ravenclaw? A little extra wisdom never goes amiss, Potter, but I hardly think it would be much use in _this_ situation!"

"I hardly want it for that," He frowned slightly, "I need to know if you do know. Have you ever seen it?"

"Seen it? Nobody has seen it in living memory! Long since lost, boy!"

He clenched his fist, thinking hard. He wouldn't put it past Voldemort to find something lost for centuries and then hide it again, but even if that was the case, he still had no idea where it was. It the Diadem of Ravenclaw wasn't the Horcrux, then what _was_?!

"We shall meet you and your Ravenclaws in the Great Hall, Filius!" McGonagall exclaimed, motion for the other three to follow her. They didn't get very far before Slughorn spoke,

"My word, what a to-do! I'm not all sure whether this is wise, Minerva. He is bound to find a way in, you know, and anyone who has tried to delay him will be in most grievous peril-"

Harry caught the disgusted expression that Allen wore, and quickly smoothed away. He wasn't as good at hiding that feeling, and didn't even bother to try.

"I shall expect you and the Slytherins in the Great Hall in twenty minutes, also," McGonagall said, "If you wish to leave with your students, we shall not stop you. But if any of you attempt to sabotage out resistance or take up arms against us within the castle, then, Horace, we duel to kill."

"Minerva!" Slughorn exclaimed, aghast. Allen blinked and stifled a stare of respect for the woman, and Harry once again had to do the same.

"The time has come for Slytherin House to decide upon its loyalties. Go and wake your students, Horace."

Then Harry, Allen, and Luna were bounding after Professor McGonagall again, and none bothered to look back at the other man. Just as the Head of Gryffindor was about to cast a spell, however, she was interrupted by none other than Filch.

"Students out of bed! Students in the corridors!"

"They're suppose to be, you blithering idiot! Now go and do something constructive! Find Peeves!"

"P-Peeves?" Filch stammered, and at Allen's questioning gave, Harry motioned that he'd tell the other later.

"Yes, _Peeves_, you fool, _Peeves_! Haven't you been complaining about his for a quarter of a century? Go and fetch him, at once!"

Filch did had a stare that made it obvious he thought she'd lost her mind, but he did as she said, muttering the whole way. Then she cast her spell, 'Piertotum Locomotor'.

The suits of armor all along the corridors jumped to life, crashing as they moved, and Harry knew that the same had happened to every other suit of armor throughout the castle. Allen rose a shocked and impressed eyebrow, while Luna watched in dreamy fascination.

"Hogwarts is threatened!" McGonagall shouted, "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"

And as the armor began to do so, suits of all sizes, some small, some humongous, Harry found that he felt as if he were going to war. Which was true enough, he supposed, but he dearly hoped that he was both ready for it, and that everything would go well. It almost felt like he was asking too much, for everything to go well, but he figured there was no harm in trying. He also hoped that he wasn't tempting fate, because it seemed to lean away from his side in matters like these.

__--*--__

A/N: Again, sorry for the lateness. At least it's only a couple days, instead of weeks, months, or even, years (Don't you hate it when that happens)?

Hope everyone's having a good tome, and please review!


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: When I was reading ahead, trying to get a feel for how I wanted to write this, I got goosebumps from the version of the Final Battle that popped into my head. I hope I can translate it on here even a fraction what I saw in my head XD And then I got to the part where Fred died, and my excitement just died, which kinda sucks, haha. He was never my favorite character, but reading that when I was going through awesome scenarios was a serious kill-joy.

__--*--__

As they were directed, Harry, Luna, and Allen started back towards the Room of Requirement directly afterwards. They passed and ran through crowds that whispered and shouted Harry's name in shock and disbelief. He ignored it with a sense of other-worldliness.

They reached the door, which appeared before them, and as he led the way down, he came very close to slipping down several steps when he saw how crowded the room had become. There were many more people now, among them being Lupin, Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinner, Bill, Fleur, and both Mr. and Mrs. Weasly.

"Harry, what's happening?" Lupin asked, approaching him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Voldemort's-" Harry paused for only a moment to think, "-he's on his way, they're barricading the school. Snape's gone. What're you doing here? How did you know?"

"We sent messages to the rest of Dumbledore's Army," Fred grinned, "You couldn't expect everyone to miss the fun, Harry, and the D.A. Let the Order of the Phoenix know, and it all kind of snowballed."

"What first, Harry?" called George, "What's going on?"

Harry looked out amongst the faces, feeling as if his vision was narrowing down as it sunk in that this really was happening. He took a deep breath and gathered all his courage and experience that he'd gained,

"They're evacuating the younger kids and everyone's meeting in the Great Hall to get organized," He announced, "We're fighting."

There was a great roar and cheers, and as one most of the group surged for the door. He quickly pressed himself aside so that they could pass, people of all groups and ages passing him with excited and determined faces, their wands all drawn.

He saw Dean take Luna's hand as they went, and soon there were only a few people left. He found that he couldn't find Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, Lavi, or Kanda among them.

"You're underage!" Mrs. Weasly was yelling at Ginny as Harry came closer, "I won't permit it! The boys, yes, but you, you've got to go home!"

"I won't!"

Ginny yanked herself from her mothers grip, angry.

"I'm in Dumbledore's Army-"

"A teenager's gang!"

Harry's attention was yanked sharply away when Timcampy suddenly emerged from Allen's pocket and started to beep softly. He followed Allen off to the side, hoping it was Lavi with news as to where everyone was. Indeed, moment's later, Lavi's voice emerged from the small golem,

"Allen?"

"Lavi?" Allen frowned, "Where are you?"

"Got some news for you," Lavi exclaimed, "Magic castles are a pain. Did you know this place has moving staircases? And that they just move when you're on them?"

"Lavi," Allen scowled at Timcampy, while Harry stifled a small grin, "Where _are_ you?!"

"Oh, around-" Distant voices could momentarily be heard in the background, and Harry though it was Malfoy making a scathing comment, followed by Hermione's scolding tone, "-Ok, so, I don't actually know where, exactly, we are. Somewhere underground and-"

Harry heard more distant voices, but he looked back at the Weasly's argument when he felt eyes on him. It was Ginny, who watched him beseechingly, and he frowned in return. Her shoulders slumped visibly, and she said something lowly, which was interrupted when none other than Percy stumbled through the tunnel.

"-and it was all Ron's idea, apparently," Lavi's voice emerged again, "They're trying to hurry, and damn, this is the biggest flippin' skeleton I've _ever_ seen, what did you _feed_ this thing?!"

Laughing came in the background, and Harry frowned, drawn away from the touching family reunion and the official apology from Percy that resulted in Mrs. Weasly's tears, wondering what the other was talking about. Then he heard, distinctly, Kanda's voice hissing something lowly at Lavi, who sighed loudly,

"Alright, alright. Look, Allen, we just got a message from HQ through Yu's golem, and we need to get together right about... now, actually. Yu and I are about to split from the others – apparently this is really important."

"Split?" Allen looked toward Harry in obvious concern, "If you're sure; where do we meet?"

"We'll swing by there in a moment," Lavi replied, more somberly this time, "Just stick around."

The connection ended right there, and when Harry caught the exorcist looking at him in concern again, he couldn't help but roll his eyes slightly and say,

"Oh come on, I think I can survive without you for a little while. I know this castle way better than you anyway."

"Yeah," Allen smiled sheepishly, "You're right. Sorry. Just be careful."

"Ditto," Harry nodded before moving over toward the Weasly's again, and when he arrived, he looked to them and said, "I'm going. Be careful."

"Of course, dear," Mrs. Weasly agreed, "You as well. Perhaps you should come with us-"

"No can do," He interrupted, "I'm off. I'll see you soon."

He strode toward the door, intent on going to the Great Hall to check everything over as he thought hard on his next plan of action. At the door, he looked to Allen, who smiled widely and gave a two fingered salute. Harry grinned in return and waved before he left.

Admittedly, suddenly being alone for the very first time in months – in another month or two it would be a whole year – was beyond strange and liberating. He'd always had somebody near him since the exorcists arrived. He hadn't had a moment to himself, unless you counted those moments alone when Kanda was out of their shared room, since before akuma had been introduced to them. Somebody had always been around. Now there was nobody, though it probably wouldn't be for very long, and he took a deep breath.

Only for pain to sear through his scar as his vision was replaced with the sight of high iron-wrought gates with winged boars on pillars at either side, looking out across the grounds at the castle which were ablaze with lights. Nagini was wrapped around his shoulders, and he felt himself fill with a sense of purpose, which always preceded murder.

Then he was back in the hall, stumbling and almost hitting the floor. He wondered strongly if Allen saw that vision too, as he pushed himself up valiantly. Then he forced himself to continue on his way.

The Great Hall was dark and the ceiling was enchanted with stars. The four long House tables were filled with disheveled students, some in traveling cloaks, some in dressing gowns. The school ghosts were littered about as well, and every single eye, dead or alive, were fixed on McGonagall, who spoke from the raised platform at the top of the Hall. The remaining teachers stood behind her, along with the palomino centaur, Firenze, and the members of the Order of the Phoenix that had arrived to fight.

"...evacuation will be overseen by Mr. Filch and madam Pomfrey. Prefects, when I give you the word, you will organize you House and take your charges, in an orderly fashion, to the evacuation point."

Harry could see that a great deal many of the students were frightened, petrified even. He was inwardly thinking hard, even as he listened to McGonagall talk and watch the faces of everyone here. He kept an eye out for Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy, hoping they would appear soon.

"And what if we want to stay and fight?" Ernie Macmillan stood from the Hufflepuff table and shouted. There was some applause from around the room.

"If you are of age, you may stay," Professor McGonagall said.

"What about our things?" Another girl at the Ravenclaw table cried, "Our trunks, our owls?"

"We have no time to collect possessions," The professor replied, "The important thing is to get you out of here safely."

"Where's Professor Snape?" This time it was a girl from the Slytherin table.

"He has, to use the common phrase, done a bunk," McGonagall said, causing great cheers to erupt from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and the Ravenclaws.

It was at that exact moment that the Great Hall doors opened swifter than Harry had ever seen it opened before. He blinked several times when he saw who stood between the doors – they were beyond unmistakable.

Between three impressive figures in black uniforms stood a man in white. Komui Lee, leader of the Headquarters of the Black Order, and he stood tall and proud. Allen stood to his right, Lavi to his left, and Kanda walked behind him, all three wearing faces that were more serious than Harry had seen it for a while now. He noticed, grimly, that Allen's cursed eye was activated, twirling and spinning as if impatient or irritated all on it's own.

Allen's gaze found Harry easily, and his mouth gave a small twitch of a smile. Harry heard McGonagall's startled question, and the shocked and fearful whispers breaking out across the Hall. He knew they only grew exponentially louder when he broke from the shadows near the Gryffindor table and moved to approach them. He was also positive that his own jacket, while not the same, though obviously similar and connected in style, was noticed once he stood nearer to them.

Before Komui could speak, or McGonagall could demand an explanation, another voice cut in. It seemed to echo from the walls it selves, and it was high, cold, and very clear as it spoke.

"I know that you are preparing to fight," Voldemort said, and as he did, screams broke out across the Hall, the students looking around in terror, "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

There was silence now, the kind that did not seem to be silence at all – the kind that was loud and heavy, the kind that could be felt and seemed to take up space. He noticed Komui's vaguely raised eyebrow and faint alarm, but mostly as the way that Lavi was currently making a ridiculous face at the direction of the front of Hogwarts, where Voldemort was, and the way Allen stepped on the other's foot sharply, followed by Kanda's sharp jab in the lower back.

"Give me Harry Potter," Voldemort demanded, "and none shall be harmed. Give me harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded.

"You have until midnight."

The silence came again, and it almost seemed as if every eye that could turned to Harry, settling on him with uncomfortable weight. It almost burned, and he withstood it impatiently, resisting the urge to subtly slip to stand beside Kanda. Instead, he remained at his place in front of Allen. Then someone stood from the Slytherin table, and he recognized Pansy Parkinson as she shouted,

"But he's there! Potter's _there!_ Someone grab him!"

He didn't really expect the following grand flurry of movement. The Gryffindor's were the first to their feet, followed quickly by the Hufflepuff's and the Ravenclaw's, all turned to face the Slytherin table, who looked dwarfed compared to three fourths of the school standing against them. But above all that, Harry thought that it was the exorcists that made the biggest impression.

They had stepped forward to include him in their formation around Komui, and with a flurry of light Allen stood in his cloak, radiating light all around them. Lavi's hammer grew to an impressive size, glowing in a faint green flame, and he rested it on his shoulder almost mockingly.

It was the slow, drawn out hiss of a sword being drawn from it's sheath that caused the Slytherins to break out in a solid sweat.

Feeling almost overwhelmed with gratitude and fondness to not only the exorcists, but for all the students that had stood up for him, Harry looked at all the wands drawn on his behalf. A hand landed on his shoulder. Looking, he found Komui giving him a slight smile, kind, and he instinctively straightened up under that gaze. He felt prouder than he had in a long time, at that moment.

"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," McGonagall said in a cold, clipped voice, "You will leave the Hall first with Mr. Filch. If the rest of your House could follow."

The sound of grinding benches and heavy steps filled the Hall, and more stairs were directed toward Harry and the four with him. Harry led them through the path between the middle Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, keeping a sharp eye out. After all, he didn't have a cursed eye that let him see akuma coming, and he was surrounded by people now.

The Slytherin table emptied completely, and he wondered how Draco would feel about that, were he here. A good amount of Ravenclaws stayed seated, and an even larger amount of Hufflepuffs remained behind. Over half of Gryffindor was still filled as people piled out of the Hall, and McGonagall had to descend from her perch to usher on the underage. As soon as they neared her, however, walking around to stand at the end of the Gryffindor table, she turned and faced them completely, watching with a stern eye.

"We don't have long," She was saying, "There's only half an hour until Midnight. What have you come here for?"

"My name is Komui Lee," Komui introduced himself with a kind smile, "I am the Head Chief of the Headquarters of the Black Order. We are dedicated to destroying akuma."

"I heard this was almost impossible," She replied suspiciously.

"Almost," He repeated patiently, "In the Black Order, we have fighters called 'exorcists' who can destroy them – indeed, who are the _only_ ones who can destroy akuma. That is what these three are; meet Allen Walker, Lavi, and Kanda Yu, all exorcists, and all three have followed, watched, and protected Harry here ever since the attack on his families home some months ago."

Her surprised eyes turned to Harry, who blinked and realized that she was surprised because they'd been around for so _long_.

"Normally, I must admit," Komui continued calmly, "We wouldn't enter a war so blatantly, since we're so concentrated on our own. However, Voldemort-" Several nearby students flinched, "- has started trying to use akuma to his own ends, and so we will offer our assistance against the akuma."

"Your assistance?" McGonagall raised one eyebrow, a slight frown marring her face, "I appreciate the offer, welcome it even, but if there's any way that-"

It was a student from the Ravenclaw table that had risen from behind her, face becoming almost vacant. He barely got out of his seat when he found the end of Lavi's hammer sticking deeply in his chest. His face contorted in shock and surprised, and McGonagall turned with wide eyes. When she saw what stood behind her, her face contorted into rage, and her eyes burned.

Then the Ravenclaw exploded, as if from within, and the sound combined with the heat caused other's to cry out in shock. For a moment there was shocked silence, but then Komui spoke again,

"I see you didn't seem to know akuma can hide in human form," He gave a vague wave around the room, "I'm surprised that there are, according to Allen, only two in this whole room, even before all those students left. Exorcists cannot usually tell where akuma are either, but Allen can."

"Two?" She whispered, eyes even wider.

"Two," Allen confirmed quietly, "In here, that is. There are many more outside, waiting. One touch of their bullet, even if it's as shallow as a paper cut, and you will contract a disease that will kill you in seconds. There is no cure. Allow us to help you."

"...I don't suppose I have a choice," She shook her head, "Where is the other... abomination in my school? And Harry, _aren't you suppose to be looking for something_?"

Harry swallowed his slight disappointment and annoyance. He needed to find that Horcrux, but he also wanted to stay and help fight. He gave a slight nod, and mumbled an affirmative before spinning on his heel. Another hand landed on his shoulder, and he glanced back to see that it was Lavi.

"Lead the way," The redhead murmured softly, motioning with his other hand towards the door. Harry blinked in surprise again before he nodded and started walking. He noticed that Lavi was the only one to follow him this time, Kanda and Allen staying at Komui's side.

They stepped out into the crowded entrance hall, filled with people still evacuating, and he allowed himself to be swept along with them up the marble steps before parting and heading down a deserted hallway. It wasn't hard – many people seemed to part away from them as they walked. He thought it might've been the fact that Lavi was still holding his over sized hammer, still resting it on his shoulder with an air of nonchalance.

Harry paused a little way down the hall, when the noise had died down behind him, so that he could think clearly. It seemed a little harder, now that Hermione and Ron weren't with him, but after a moment of brief confusion his mind cleared.

Voldemort thought he'd go to Ravenclaw Tower, that he knew. So something about Ravenclaw was obviously important, and what was more important than the Dark Lord's Horcrux's? On top of that, he couldn't imagine the other would use any common thing to house a part of his soul. So the diadem still made the most sense, but it had been lost for so long, how could the other have used it?

But if anyone, he wouldn't put it past Voldemort to be the one to find the diadem.

Nobody in living memory had seen the diadem – so why not ask somebody who wasn't any longer alive? His eyes snapped open, and he found that Lavi had been watching him patiently.

"This way," Harry snapped, and then tore off back the way he'd come, ignoring the sound of hundreds of footsteps marching off toward the Room of Requirement. He took one look at the steps crowded to the brim and the voices all around him and decided he didn't have the time to fight his way down.

So he jumped up onto the railing, vaguely hearing Lavi's oath of surprise, and slid down. Many students watched in shock, and he pretended it didn't bother him at all. Then again, it didn't, really, not in his current state of adrenaline. He managed to stop at the end of the railing, on a small flat area, and then he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted,

"Nick! NICK! I need-"

He let out an omph when something plowed into his back. He started to wheel his arms around so he wouldn't fall, but then an arm wrapped around his waist and steadied him.

"You can't just take off like that," Lavi scolded him, somehow balancing further back so that he wasn't pressed against Harry's back, "Sometimes I wonder if that training was a bad idea, when you can go making sliding down railings while standing look easy."

Harry sent a slight glare over his shoulder and huffed at the other. He resisted a grin when the other pulled his hands back and held them up in mock surrender.

"Harry!" Nearly Headless Nick floated up to them, smiling, "My dear boy!"

"Nick," Harry ignored the icy cold feeling he got when the ghost tried to grasp his hands, "I need your help. I need to talk to the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower."

"It's the Gray Lady you'd talk to then," Nick said, appearing slightly surprised and offended, "But if it is ghostly serviced you require-?"

"No, sorry, it's gotta be her – d'you know where she is?"

"Let's see..." Nick looked around the hall for a moment before pointing at a woman with last length hair, "That's her over there, Harry, the young woman with-"

"Thanks!"

And then Harry took off towards the woman who had noticed Nick pointing at her and turned to drift off. He had to jump to get off the railing, and he traveled a good several feet before he landed, and he heard Lavi doing the same, both of them taking off in a run. He turned into the corridor that the woman had started off into and shouted for her to wait the moment he caught sight of her. She did, thankfully, and he took a deep breath when he reached her.

"Are you the Gray Lady, ghost of Ravenclaw Tower?"

"That is correct," Her tone wasn't very encouraging, and he frowned at her.

"Please, I need your help. I need you to tell me anything you can about the lost diadem."

The smile she wore then was cold.

"I am afriad I cannot help you," She turned to leave, and Harry almost swore.

"Wait!" He barely stopped himself from yelling, but at least she stopped. A glance at his watch told him that it was almost a quarter to midnight.

"This is urgent," He exclaimed fiercely, 'If that diadem can be found, I _need_ to find it, fast."

"You are hardly the first student to covet that diadem," She replied, turning her nose up disdainfully, "Generations of students have badgered-"

"Yes, because now is the time to worry about getting good grades," Lavi mumbled with a roll of his eyes, "There's _only_ a whole army outside..."

She blushed as well as a ghost could and scowled, looking at the exorcist angrily, and Harry cut in,

"This is about _Voldemort_, and defeating him, or are you uninteresting in that?"

"Of course I – how dare you suggest -" She sputtered, her transparent blush becoming more transparent.

"Well then stop being difficult and _help_ me!"

He could feel his frustration building a little more every passing moment, and he tried to gain control back by taking deep, calming breaths. Lavi patted his shoulder, but it wasn't the least bit reassuring.

"It – it is not a question of – My mother's diadem-"

"Your _mother's_? Then you should know something!"

"I was Helena Ravenclaw," The ghost said stiffly, "but I do not think that a little extra wisdom would help-"

"How many times do I have to say I _don't want to wear it_?" Harry closed his eyes for a long moment, feeling angry at himself for yelling, "...Sorry. Look, that diadem might be something that is the key to defeating Voldemort. If you know anything at all, I need you to tell me, _now_."

When she still only stared at him, he felt his frustration and hopelessness building, and he could almost feel the same in Lavi, who waited uncharacteristically silent. Just as he was about to turn away with a shake of his head, the ghost spoke,

"I stole the diadem from my mother."

"You..." He turned back around with furrowed eyebrows.

"I _stole the diadem_," She repeated, "I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it."

Harry didn't know what had changed her mind, but he waited impatiently as she told him her story. As he listened to her explanation of stealing the diadem and her mother's secrecy about the theft, he noticed Lavi's eye gleaming in the way it always did when he was recording a conversation or sight into his mind.

Helena went on to explain that her mother became fatally ill, and how her mother only wanted to see Helena once more, so she sent a man who had loved Helena to search for her. It turns out the man was, much to Harry's surprise, none other than the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin. The Baron had found Helena, and he'd tried to convince her to come back with him, but when she refused, he lost his temper and killed her. He then went on to kill himself in grief of what he'd done, and apparently that was why he wore those chains still, as an act of penance.

"And... and the diadem?" Harry asked then.

"It remained where I had hidden it when I heard the Baron blundering though the forest toward me. Concealed inside a hollow tree."

"What tree? Where?"

"A forest in Albania. A lonely place I thought was far beyond my mother's reach."

He thought hard, and just as he felt something was emerging from his thoughts, something important, Lavi asked,

"Did you tell this to someone before?"

And when she nodded almost meekly, Harry realized who, indeed, it must have been that she'd told. Just as she opened her mouth, he muttered,

"You weren't the first person Riddle wormed things out of. He could be charming, when he wanted..."

Her mouth snapped shut again.

That information, though, settled it. The diadem was the Horcrux, and it probably wasn't in that tree anymore. It would have been moved to a better place, and the only place he could think of would be Hogwarts. The question was still where, though, and he nodded briefly,

"Thank you," And then he quickly took off towards the entrance hall yet again, thinking quickly. Lavi drew up beside him and wondered,

"Didn't you say Moldy-Voldy came here to apply for a teaching job? Do you think...?"

"...Yeah, I do think," In Harry's mind, pieces were slowly drawing together, "Yeah, you're right..."

He tried to think of all the places that he could have hidden it, between the entrance hall and the Headmasters office, tried to think of all the secret places he knew of here in the castle. The only place he could think of that _he_ would hide something would be the Room of Requirement and-

And then he remembered, some time ago, being in that room, and placing both a wig and an old battered tiara upon an ugly warlock's head, and realized with a start where, _exactly_, the diadem was hidden. He skidded to a halt, almost causing Lavi to trip in his haste to stop as well.

"What...?!" Lavi explained, startled.

"I know where it is," Harry replied almost breathlessly, and it wasn't from the running. Lavi's eyes lit up, but then so did the whole hallway.

The light was bright, intense, and his eyes widened before slamming shut at the intensity of it. He forced his eyes open the moment he could, looking down to see his watch reading midnight, and then looking out the closest window, his eyesight burning and a bright after image burned into his retina's. He saw a bright white _thing_ outside with small things pouring out of it, and he couldn't see anything beyond that.

It was midnight. The battle had started. He need to hurry.

__--*--__

A/N: Hmmm, interesting... I'm still trying to decide what will be the end result XD That is, who dies, and who doesn't. Because rest assured, there will be deaths. Of course there will be. I don't think it's really a huge spoiler or anything to say that, is it? Since it's pretty well known that a lot of people die in the last HP book.

Anyways, more votes on the poll of my profile would be nice. If I do another, that's probably going to decide what I do, after all XD

You guys are amazing? Seriously. And it'd be awesome if you could continue to be amazing, and review?


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: You know, I think this battle might not only be a bit drawn out and changed, but may focus a fair bit on the exorcists. I don't know yet. But we'll see XD

__--*--__

McGonagall was nervous. She had every single right to be. Her school was about to be attacked by a powerful Dark Lord and not only his followers, but also by creatures that were, apparently, immune to anything but the strange weapons that some children possessed. Their own fighting force wasn't that great. A fair number of them were students who attended Hogwarts and were of age.

She regretted that they were about to loose their innocence and have some sights scarred into their minds for the rest of their lives, but it was, unfortunately, a necessary evil.

She'd been shocked when she saw the size of the opposing 'army'. At first she thought that it was something new, maybe a spell that caused an approaching black fog. Then she realized that it wasn't a black fog – it was a huge group of _people_ headed toward them, stopping a little ways away to wait until Midnight arrived. As the seconds ticked by, she watched as the whole front line change and shift into those creatures, those akuma, until a more normal sized army was left behind. She felt that if it were just those Death Eaters on the ground, their chances weren't dismal.

But there were at least hundreds of akuma floating about in the air, mostly the big round ones, but there were also many unique ones. There had to be a three to one ratio of akuma to Death Eaters, especially with the way they were almost blotting out the sky.

It would have been alright if she were leading her students out into a war – but this was quickly turning into something more of a massacre. It wasn't okay. It was suicidal and insane, and she knew that many of the more hardened members here were shaking, and students were silently crying in fear. She felt such an intense pride that none of them left, though.

"We have five minutes," Komui said softly, stepping up to stand at her side. He was sweating and staring out into the army with an admiring look of determination. As she looked at him, and then at the two exorcists standing behind him with almost blank expressions, though Allen still had a kind shine to his eyes, she wondered what had caused them to enter this lifestyle. She felt as if she were getting a glimpse into something much bigger than she'd thought was there.

"...Do you have any family in the Order?" She asked almost as softly.

"My little sister is an exorcist," He said, turning his head to look at her with a young face but old eyes, and she felt as if she'd found a comrade in this man, "She is sixteen years old."

"My students are like my family," She offered, wondering how many exorcists there were in the world, "I hope this isn't as hopeless as it looks, and that we may all live to see our families again."

"We will not, not all of us," Komui looked back out onto the field, "That is the tragedy of war. We must only try to keep the deaths on our side to a minimum."

"Well said," She agreed, watching the akuma float about with a rising sense of hopelessness and defeat. Only a few seconds of silence passed before the other man said,

"Allen."

"Yes," Allen stepped away from them with an air of confidence, and McGonagall blinked. The boy had, several minutes prior, exterminated the other akuma in her Hall, a young first year in Gryffindor, and she felt the loss keenly. Not only the boys death, but also at that Allen had not seemed as effected will the deed as he should. He'd seemed _relieved_, and had worn a look of quiet kindness.

"What are you doing?" She asked, startled, when both he and the young Japanese youth moved away towards the door. They had been watching through a window not far away, at the front of the initial, older, wizard and witches that were set to defend on the front lines. There were others at other places, of course.

"We're doing what's right," Allen turned only his head to give her a smile she didn't think she'd ever forget, not with the way the moonlight shown on them through the window. Kanda let out a snort as he turned his broad back toward them, his long hair whipping about around him, gripping his sword in one hand. As he rested his hand there, she realized with a start what was going to happen.

"If they go out there alone, no matter what special weapon they have," She snarled, spinning back towards Komui, "They will _die_."

"Don't worry," His glasses glinted so that she could not see his eyes, "They won't be alone for long. Trust us."

That was quite a thing to ask, but she had no choice. She turned back, hopelessly watching the two boys move out of the door and out into the grass. She heard Molly Weasly let out an exclamation of surprise from behind her,

"Minerva, you can't be serious-"

"Quiet, Molly," She replied in a strained voice, "It was not _I_ who told them to go."

She heard the whispers die down to nothing as word spread that the two _boys_ had entered out into the open all on their own, and that no one had stopped them. She wanted to drag them back in, but she could only watch in dread as they walked further and further.

Soon, Allen's white hair was the main thing that identified them, standing out against the black fog of akuma and Death Eaters. She knew she was holding her breath when Midnight came officially.

Then she heard it – a soft melody that drifted through the air, moving through solid stone as if it weren't there. It was quiet, but soothing, and she watched as the area behind the two exorcists exploded into light.

For a moment she couldn't even open her eyes, but when she did, she found a giant white light in the air, stretching up several stories, and the from it came _people_. A sharp spell uttered and her eyesight seemed to zoom into it, and she caught a close up look at what was happening.

They all wore similar black and red uniforms, pouring out of the light. There weren't many – there couldn't be more than twenty who emerged, but they were all impressive. One was a huge man with giant strange wheels, and then a woman with a giant, ferocious looking monkey. She saw a man with wires flailing about his fingers, and another man who had sharp teeth and looked pretty fearsome. She also caught sight of a girl who _flew_ out of the light above everyone else with glowing boots she'd never seen anything like before, and wondered dimly if _that_ had been Komui's younger sister.

She hadn't expected more exorcists to appear, not other than Allen, Kanda, and Lavi. They were almost muggles, after all, so they shouldn't have had a way of transporting themselves fast enough. She could see now that she was wrong, but she found that she didn't know how to feel. There was less that twenty people out there – that was no where near enough to take off an army of that size, even if if were only the akuma.

Bullets started to rain down on them. The light of the door combined with the dust obscured every single exorcist from view entirely. She was still holding her breath, she knew, and so was everyone else who watched; and she didn't think there was a single soul in this Hall that didn't watch.

Then glowing crosses seemed to impale a handful of akuma and then explode. The exorcists surged out of the dust and light, and she thought she heard a distant cry even from where she stood.

"... There's not even twenty people there," She whispered, "How can they hope to...? Surely you could have gathered more...?"

"There _are_ no more," Komui replied grimly, "There are fourteen exorcists there, not including Lavi who is off with Harry. That is all there is in the world, at this moment in time."

She was almost disbelieving, but there was the evidence right there. There were fourteen people out there, much less than she'd thought, and she knew only that they had better be better than she was thinking they were, or they would all die.

She turned grimly towards the rest of the people standing behind her,

"This is it. Take down all Death Eaters. Show no mercy. Also, do your best to cover the exorcists from other spells. If you find one stupefied or other wise incapacitated and you can fix it, do it. Ready?"

The resulting cry was weaker than she'd like.

"That is not good enough. You will go out there and fight harder than you have in your entire life, understood?"

The cry turned into a roar. She turned back and set her expression grimly. She looked at Komui out of the corner of her eyes.

"Coming?" She asked.

"Afraid not," He appeared to have swallowed a lemon, "I would only get in the way. But I am not through yet. I will help how I can."

She gave a brisk nod and then pushed open the doors. This was war.

__--*--__

Harry tried his best not to keep staring out the window every time he passed one. After the bright light had passed, he'd moved on and noticed a few minutes later the battle outside. All Lavi would say on the matter was that the castle had the best defense against akuma in the world, and that was it. It was hard not to look – ever time he'd glanced outside as he ran through the halls, he'd seen the battle on the ground, which consisted of the witches and wizards fired spells of all colors at each other, and the akuma and what he assumed were exorcists in the air, firing bursts of color of their own. He could feel the ground shaking every once in a while as an explosion happened too close to the castle, and he could hear the distant sounds of battle, even from the halls he ran in.

He turned a corner and almost slipped when he heard a crash of shattering glass and barking. He heard the great bellowing voice of Hagrid, and snuffed out the urge to go and see the half-giant. He had more important things to do, after all.

Through another hall, and then another, and then another, and finally he rounded into a corridor in which a small cluster of students were gathered. They were standing beside another empty plinth, which held a statue that concealed a secret passageway. They all had their wands drawn as they listened at the hole. The ground gave a great shudder and rocked underneath Harry's feet, and he heard Lavi swear when several windows blew inwards.

"Nice night for it!" Fred shouted at them as they ran by, and he fought his way through many owls and tried his best not to slip on glass. It did briefly remind him of the attack on the Dursley's, and of when he'd noticed the way the exorcists had moved over the glass with no sound. Now, Lavi's feet pounded along beside his with just as much noise, and it was an almost companionable silence, if tense and rushed.

It was when he rounded the last corner that he spotted the people he'd been waiting to see again, and he almost slid again when he tried to stop near them.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" He exclaimed, staring at the large, yellow objects that Ron, Hermione, and Draco all held.

"Chamber of Secrets," Ron replied.

"Chamber... what?" Harry shook his head, as if the physical movement would get his mind started again.

"It was Ron, all Ron's idea!" Hermione said breathlessly, "Wasn't it absolutely brilliant? There we were, after you left, and I said to Ron, that wouldn't it be better if we could destroy Horcruxes too, so that way we could split up and look! And then he thought of it! The basilisk!"

His eyes widened, and he looked at the objects again. They were large _fangs, _he recognized them now.

"I – that's great. I know where the Horcrux is, though-"

He saw the way Ron frowned and he added,

"But this way, if you come across Nagini, you might be able to destroy her, so it was worth it, just in case. But how did you get inside? You need to speak Parseltongue!"

"He did! Show him, Ron!"

Ron did hiss, but it sounded strangled and barely understandable.

"I had to try it a lot, because I wasn't quite sure, but I thought I'd heard you say something like it once. We got it though."

"It was horrible," Malfoy rolled his eyes, "And I would've been less surprised if he spoke weasel. That door must have been mentally challenged."

But Harry could see the slight glow to Malfoy and the way his cheeks were flushed – no doubt, he'd been extremely excited to see the Chamber of Secrets first hand.

"I didn't see you getting it right," Ron argued half-heartedly, "And you're nothing but a ferret anyway – not much of a difference between ferrets and weasels, you know?"

Malfoy's face darkened at being called similar to Ron, but before it could escalate, Lavi said,

"Well, I don't know what all this strange animal pet-names are coming from, but aren't we on a bit of a time-limit?"

Harry thought, privately, that Lavi was rather anxious to get back with the other exorcists, and he couldn't really blame him, so he nodded and snapped his attention back to business.

"I know where the Horcrux is. He thought he was the only one who knew about it, but I hid my potions book there, and others have been using it for centuries. Come on."

He barely finished his sentence before the castle rumbled again, and he took the lead back to the Room of Requirement. Inside, there were only three women: Ginny, Tonks, and an elderly lady that he recognized as Neville's grandmother only because of her moth eaten hat.

"Ah, Potter," she nodded at him, "You can tell me what's going on."

"Is everyone okay?" Tonks and Ginny asked simultaneously.

"As far as we know," He replied, "Are there still people in the Hog's Head?"

The room would not transform with people still in it.

"I was the last to come through," Ms. Longbottom said, "I sealed it, I think it unwise to leave it open now Aberforth has left his pub. Have you seen my grandson?"

"He's fighting," He said only, knowing that the boy had stayed and was no doubt doing his fair share.

"Naturally," She nodded again, proudly, "Excuse me, I must go and assist him."

She was gone with startling speed, and so he turned his attention towards Tonks.

"I thought you were suppose to be with Teddy at your mother's?"

"I couldn't stand not knowing-" She looked away with a pained expression, "She'll look after him – have you seen Remus?"

"He was planning with McGonagall, last I saw-"

She immediately sped off almost as fast as Neville's grandmother had.

"Ginny, I'm sorry, but we need you to leave too, just for a little bit. Then you can come back in."

She didn't appear at all to be disappointed, and she started to run out quickly.

"You need to come back in though!" She shouted after her, "_You've got to come back in!"_

She was gone too fast though, and he knew that she had no such intention of coming back inside, not if she could help it, and he shook his head.

"Girls will be girls," Lavi commented with a sly grin, "Wonder what yo kids will be like, what with all that recklessness?"

"Kids-?!" Harry's head snapped back to stare at the red-head, his face flushing.

"Hey," Lavi rolled his eye, "I may have only one eye, but I can see just fine, thanks."

"Hang on a moment!" Ron suddenly said, interrupting Harry's own reply, "Aren't we forgetting someone?"

"Who?" Asked Hermione in slight confusion.

"The house-elves," The Weasly replied, "they'll all be down in the kitchen, won't they?"

"Yeah?" Harry frowned slightly, "What about them?"

"Shouldn't we tell them to get out? I mean, we can't order them to die for us-"

With a clatter, the basilisk fangs hit the floor, and Hermione threw her arms around his neck, kissing him full on the mouth. Ron pretty much threw his own fangs away, and kissed back with such enthusiasm that he picked her off the ground. There was a brief moment of complete silence before Lavi suddenly burst out in heavy laughter, which fell to the background as Draco exclaimed loudly,

"Oh, for the _love of Merlin_!" He covered his eyes hastily, dropping a few fangs, "We're being attack by the _Dark Lord_ and all you want to do is snog each other?!"

The two didn't break apart right away, but it might have been the way that Lavi had started to lose the ability to breath, bent over as he was, that got through to them.

"This isn't the moment for that," Harry added slowly, "I hate to say it, but I've got to agree with Malfoy on this one."

"Which is almost as bad," Malfoy snapped, paused, glanced at the way the other two still had their arms around each other and added, "No, I take that back. Nothing is worse that what I just saw."

"Nothing?" Harry asked, "Not even your impending death and possible torture?"

Malfoy did give a pause again as if in though, and Lavi managed to say as he gathered his breath,

"You have to _think_ about it?"

Draco shrugged nonchalantly, accidentally spilling a couple more fangs which transformed his face into a scowl.

"There's no time like the present, right?" Ron asked.

"Lies," Harry almost hissed back, "We've got a Horcrux to destroy!"

"Yeah – of course – sorry," Ron and Hermione did break apart completely this time, blushing as they gathered their spilled fangs again.

When they exited the Room, it was clear that the battle was fierce and still going strong. The ground trembled hard, and almost nonstop, and through the nearest broken window, Harry caught sight of an explosion so close that he distantly felt the heat of it. The lights of the spells were almost at the foot of the castle, and he was sure that the Death Eaters would be entering the castle here soon. He could spot the exorcists jumping around, now surrounding by a circle of light. Grawp that giant meandered past, and he glanced over to see Lavi's look of utter longing.

"You know," He started quickly, "You _can_ go out there, Lavi. We'll be fine, and you should be with your friends."

"No," Lavi's face hardened, though his features softened again seconds later, "I'll fight with them later. I'm needed here, right now."

Harry wanted to argue that Lavi was also needed out there, more than here, but he shook his head as he remembered his time constraints. When he turned, he saw both Tonks and Ginny at the window, shooting spells out of another window. He didn't pay attention to them as he began the process of opening the Room of Requirement again. On his second run by, he heard the appearance of Aberforth, and seconds later he was by for the third and final time. The door materialized then, and they quickly slipped inside.

Instantly the noise and tremor of the outside disappeared, making Harry feel as if they'd just stepped into a whole other world. Even straining his ears, he couldn't hear any sign of the battle just beyond the door.

The place was built like a cathedral, but it was more like a city, what with the huge piles of objects stretching on and on from the students who'd hid things here for the last thousands of years.

Lavi whistled, impressed.

"And he never realized _anyone_ could get in?" Ron asked, his voice echoing slightly.

"He thought he was the only one," Harry replied, "Too bad for him that he wasn't the only one who's ever had to hide things... I think it's this way."

They walked, and he wasn't the only one to stare at the Vanishing Cabinet when they passed it; funny that the one who'd mended it with such disastrous consequences was with them on their side now. He did feel a brief flare of anger at Malfoy at the reminder of his past deeds, but he'd forced himself to become more open-minded, and he knew that if he'd been a normal person and the Dark Lord had given him a task that had to be completed on pain of death, he'd have done his best to see the task done. Probably. Well, either way, being resonable was getting tiring.

He reached a point in which he wasn't sure where to turn next. He looking down several aisles, unsure, and finally decided that it was time to split up. He gave them the description of the diadem that he remembered, then started up an aisle on his own. He heard the others shifting through all sorts of things. He heard the clink of glass, and the grating of heavy wood objects being pushed aside.

He continued on until he couldn't hear anyone else anymore. Then he saw it – he thought he might have stopped breathing, just for a moment. It was exactly as he remembered it, and he thought he could sing as he reached out to grab it. So into his delight and excitement that he didn't even hear the approach of another person, and he froze completely when he heard,

"Hold it, Potter."

He looked, and found two instead of three people. It was Crabbe and Goyle, and he found it infinitely strange to see them without Malfoy standing between them.

"What do you want?" He asked impatiently. The next Horcrux was literally within his reach. No way was he going to allow himself to be foiled by the dumb duo.

"We're going to be rewarded," Said Crabbe with a deceptively soft voice for someone so big, "We 'ung back, Potter. We decided not to go. Decided to bring you to 'im."

"I never expected that you of all people would come up with such a good plan," Harry knew he sounded more mocking that usual, but he couldn't bring himself to be anything near polite, "How'd you get in here?"

"We was hiding in the corridor outside," Goyle grunted, "We can do diss-lusion Charms now! And then, you turned up right in front of us and said you was looking for a die-dum! What's a die-dum?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Harry replied slowly, and was just as surprised when he heard a sharp,

"Drop your wands!"

It was none other than Malfoy, and when both of his previously goons turned in surprise, Malfoy couldn't hide his own shock. His wand lowered just slightly and his mouth moved as if to form words, but not sound emerged.

"You're workin' with Potter now, Malfoy?" Crabbe asked with narrowed eyes, "Are you helpin' 'im to find that die-dum thing?"

Malfoy looked to be wavering, but then he stood straight. He lowered his wand but spoke calmly,

"You should leave here."

"We 'should'?" The other repeated, "Who cares what you think we should do? We don't take orders from you anymore, _Draco_, your dad's dead."

There was a shocked silence, and even Harry was startled at the other's callousness, though he told himself that it was completely unfounded, really. Then in his rage, Malfoy flung his arm up and hissed,

"_Crucio," _The spell missed only because the boy had tried to step out of the way and stumbled.

"Malfoy!" Harry yelled angrily, lunging for the Horcrux. Goyle sent a crucio his way, and he knew that he'd disappeared from sight completely, thought he'd activated his Innocence only because he'd wanted the part that made him intangible. Indeed, the light flew through him, and he reappeared on the other side of the area, holding the diadem in one hand.

"Harry?!" He heard Ron distantly, and he ignored the shout as he drew his wand with a flick of his wrist and sent a disarming spell at Crabbe. It missed, but it threw the boy off balance as Malfoy used a paralyzing curse.

Harry threw the diadem into the air, drawing the Sword of Gryffindor with his right hand after tossing his wand into his left. The shink of the sword escaping its sheath was interesting as time almost seemed to slow. Then it sped up, and as the Horcrux came down, he drove the tip of the blade into the top of the diadem, slamming both into the ground. The Horcrux gave a great piercing, pained scream, and then he had to roll to the side and abandon the sword in order to dodge another crucio. It remained standing in the ground, and he quickly stood and grabbed the hilt again.

He brought it up in an upwards-diagonal slash he'd learned from Kanda, knocking aside the shield that had been magically thrown at him. Then he brought it back down in an opposite diagonal strike that sent the beam of another spell careening off into another aisle. He saw Goyle readying for another shot, but he was neither smart nor fast, and there was no time to react as Lavi appeared from over top an huge pile of books and other items. He fell fast, using only his hands to disarm the wizard as he landed in a crouch. He followed it up but standing and spinning on his heel, sinking his other foot deep into the boys stomach.

Goyle was lifted off his feet and didn't rise when he hit the ground. Harry looked to Crabbe, who had a dark look on his face as he fired off another spell. Draco's anger made him predictable and too violent, so much that even Crabbe was able to match the boy in his wand work. Then another light came from another aisle and Crabbe hit the ground, hard, when it hit. He had been hit with stupefy.

Ron and Hermione both appeared, breathing hard as they slowed to a stop.

"Is everyone alright?" Hermione asked in concern. Malfoy was still visibly trying to gather himself after all that anger had come rushing out.

"Yeah," Harry replied quickly, making a sweeping motion toward the broken diadem at his feet, "The Horcrux is gone. We only have two left."

"Please tell me you know what those two are," Lavi dusted his hands off as he approached, "That you came to some sort of epiphany in the short time I was gone."

"One is Voldemort himself," Harry explained with a slight smile, "And I'm pretty positive that the other is Nagini."

"'Pretty positive'?" Lavi repeated, then sighed and shrugged, "Well, better that nothing, so I can't complain. That means this whole things coming to a close, right? Now we gotta confront the Big Bad himself."

"It does seem that way," Harry winced at the thought, "Though it'd be better if we could somehow isolate the snake from Him-"

He couldn't see whatever was going on behind him and to the right, but he saw the way Lavi's eyes widened in shock and something else he didn't recognize. He was spinning before the others had even registered the expression on the exorcists face, but Lavi moved even faster.

He saw the exorcists back seconds before light exploded. Lavi was sent flying backwards, just barely missing Harry himself. He hit the ground, still skidding, before sticking out an arm and using the momentum to put him into a flip. He landing on his feet, skidding maybe a foot more before coming to a stop.

"What-?!" Hermione's shocked whisper cut through the air, and Harry looked back to see an akuma staring back at them.

He didn't really know how to tell the different between a level two and a level three, but he knew that it was one of those. It had armor, but it was also covered in rags painted blood red. He didn't think it was actual blood, but it was very real looking.

"_Hehe_!" It giggled, and it did have a sort of childlike appearance, though it was nothing compared to a level four, "An _exorcist_!"

"I don't know why that makes your day," Lavi rolled his shoulder, "You should be running right about now if you know what's good for you."

"Because I'll be _rewarded_," It insisted, as if it really wanted them to understand, "The snake one said he'll give be lots of Humans to play with if I bring the Potter boy to him. The snake one gives more Humans than the Earl does."

"How did you do magic?" Harry demanded, knowing that they had believed that akuma couldn't do magic.

"Magic?" The akuma repeated, "Magic? Is that what all those funny lights are? I thought that it looked fun, so I made some that looked like it."

A beam of light shot from its fingertips and hit a pile of items, but nothing happened.

"An illusionist then," Lavi surmised, "joy."

He drew up beside Harry, who glanced over to see the red head make a small movement with his hand. Their eyes met for a moment, and Harry understood.

"Well, this will be short," Lavi winked as glowing green symbols appeared around him, "Get going!"

Harry turned instantly, yelling,

"Run for the entrance!"

Ron was quick to catch on, and he grabbed Hermione, tugging her along. She, having been through situations like this a few times, caught on then and ran on her own. Malfoy, on the other hand, hadn't had enough life-death experience to react as quickly. Harry almost bodily dragged Malfoy towards the door before the blond abruptly came back to himself,

"Goyle!" He shouted, "We can't just leave him there!"

"What a fine time to discover your conscious!" Ron shouted in annoyance, but even the insult didn't get through to Draco. Harry scowled as he shoved the other boy towards the entrance and skidded to a stop. He spun back around, running for the boy Lavi had knocked unconscious earlier.

When he reached Goyle, he slipped an arm around the other's waist and threw the others arm over his shoulder. He shot off again, stumbling every now and then. He was almost to the entrance when heat hit his back, and he shock his head as he righted himself again. Within moments, Lavi was running at his side, slipping the unconscious boy's other arm around his shoulder, taking on the other half of weight. Their eyes met again, and Lavi just gave a reassuring grin. Harry wondered why it didn't feel reassuring – it was, though, a good sight to see.

He saw the open door ahead of him and aimed for that. He was almost there, so close. Two more to go, and everything would be over. He ignored the whisper in his head that said that it was not two, but three. He had bigger things to worry about.

__--*--__

A/N: How's that? It's a whole page longer than usual! So be glad, haha. I don't know for sure, but the battles going to be several chapters. This might actually break 50 chapters, despite what I said before, but I might be wrong. Either way, it's still almost over XD

Review~ I enjoy reading them. It makes the story worth it.


	45. Chapter 45

A/N: My apologies. My keyboard died and I got really sick. Also, Fanfiction is giving me loads of trouble as I try to upload this?

Also, recently, Reji-Neguro has been seriously awesome enough to start making a manga out of this story. It has a few spelling errors, but I like it a lot, and everyone should check it out if they're interested! It's at http:// reji-neguro[dot]deviantart[dot]com/gallery/#_featured—2 (Take out the space and put in the dots).

_Warning!!!_: Well, not for this chapter, but for future updates. Just a heads up – these chapters are really hard for me to write, not to mention schools getting harder and it's really not too long before I graduate, so the chapters might be a bit late sometimes. The only consolation I can give is that my being late doesn't equate to several weeks or months (or god forbid, years!) late. Just a few days – one week at the most, but I'll do my best to avoid that.

But thanks for everyone who reviewed! There was a new record for me XDDD

__--*--__

The first moments after stepping out into the corridor was filled with noise and disorientation. There were shouting and yelling, the ground was at an almost steady shake, and the sounds of dueling and explosions were all around them.

Harry swallowed his fear and discomfort – Death Eaters had already broken into the inside of Hogwarts. The fight was still going very strong. He had to focus on what he needed to do; and for a moment, he was blindsided by the fact that he wasn't entirely sure _what_ it was he needed to do. Obviously, Horcruxes were his most important priority, but he did not know, could not fathom, how he was going to be able to find the snake and kill it. Even more unfathomable was the thought of a direct showdown between him and Voldemort himself.

However, he couldn't waste time think about it – there were plenty of things he could be doing right now, plenty of things he could help with, if only he could think clearly on what, exactly, he needed to do most other than destroy Horcruxes.

Both Percy and Fred backed into their corridor and his mind narrowed down to one thing that he needed to be doing, one thing almost, if not more, important as killing those bits of Voldemort's soul:

Protect Hogwarts.

He was not the first one the lunge forward to help; Ron was. But he was close behind, and seconds later he was dueling a small group of Death Eaters.

"Hello Minister!" Bellowed Percy, and when Harry looked he found that yes, Percy really was dueling the Minister, "Did I mention I'm resigning?"

Lavi's laugh rang out around them, followed by a hoot of congratulations.

"You're joking, Perce!" Fred shouted, and Harry heard somebody fall to the ground. Judging by the lack of exclamation from anybody on his side, he guessed it was a Death Eater, "You actually _are_ joking, Perce... I don't think I've heard you joke since you were-"

Fred's shout was cut off by the sound of a harsh yell and a harsh weight shoving into his back, followed by a blur of red in the corner of his vision.

Then the very air itself seemed to explode.

They _had_ all been in a group as they faced against the Death Eaters. All three had been laid flat before the explosion, and in that brief slump, the peace had been ruined spectacularly. Harry could tell that he wasn't even touching the ground, that he'd been sent flying, and a terrible weight settled on him that almost stole his breath. The wind whipped at him and demanded to have it's way. He scrunched his eyes closed and tried to curl into a ball as best as he could, hold tight to his wand and hoping that his cloak would not somehow come undone.

When everything straightened out and become recognizable again, he found that he was bleeding slightly from the wreckage. There was a heavy bit of stone by his head, and he dazedly realized that he had been lucky that it hadn't _landed_ on his head. Other debris and wreckage was covering his legs, but it was easily enough pushed aside. He heard a loud cry, a yell, and his heart beat heavily and quickly because he had no idea where the others were, or what happened to them.

Had someone died? He couldn't tell. He stood, swaying on his feet as his vision briefly swam, and then focused. Hermione was struggling slightly to get out of the wreckage that surrounded her, but his eyes were more draw to the small cluster of redheads near where the wall had exploded.

Fresh air hit Harry in the face, but most of it was blocked by the huge hammer that was obviously trying to plug up the hole, or blunt the explosion. Lavi stood with his back to his hammer, but he was obviously slightly wounded. There was a gash across his cheek bone that bled and mixed with his red hair. He stood over the other three redheads with a solemn expression. Draco was dazed as he stood to the side, having avoided the worst of it.

Harry took Hermione's hand and helped her out of the rubble, then made way over as well as they could, stumbling over more stone and wood. The first thing Harry noticed was blood. He stepped in it, actually, because it had seeped out into the rubble and he hadn't noticed until he felt it under his boot. Then, finally, he caught sight of what Ron and Fred were hunched over.

It was Percy, blooded by debris, but his biggest wound was that he was had a huge gash across his face. The edges were jagged, and it was too deep. Harry couldn't even see a trace of his eyeball in the others right eye, and the cartridge oh his nose had been sliced right through.. There was a huge gash along his side too, and in combination, it meant he was loosing way too much blood. It came in a steady river, and Harry remembered back when Fred had lost his own left arm – in fact, Fred held Percy now, with the only arm he had.

"Perce...?" Fred cried, eyes wide, "Say something!"

Percy was still breathing, but it was shallow. He tried to say something, though what it was was anyone's guess. Hermione dropped down at his side and dug out her essence of dittany, allowing several drops to fall on both of the huge gashes. The bleeding stopped, but that was all that seemed to happen.

"We need to get him somewhere safe," Lavi said, seemingly taking charge, "He won't be able to fight anymore, not unless your magic's healing is far more advanced than I ever gave it credit for."

"Where?" Hermione asked as her tears spilled. She didn't seemed able to move her eyes away from the horrific injury; she was almost riveted.

"There's gotta be a place that everyone is gathering the injured," Harry said shakily. He cleared his throat and coughed, managing to steady his voice as he spoke again, "Our best bet is to take his to the Great Hall and hope that will be-"

Curses flew around the hammer of Innocence, and Harry felt fairly confident that they were not in harms way just yet. The magic would bounce from the hammer, and they were all positioned right behind it.

His confidence died the moment he saw the giant spiders that had started to squeeze through the space left to them.

"Of all things that are Holy!" Lavi shouted in shock, "Giant Spiders? _Really?_"

Harry swung around and began firing stunning spells with all the speed he could muster. It took more than one spell to send one spider back, and the ones that disappeared back into the darkness were very quickly replaced.

"We've gotta run!" He yelled, firing more curses which were accompanied by Ron's, who had jumped to help quickly enough. Harry backed away slowly even as he shot off spells, almost tripping over one of Percy's splayed feet. He bent low and briefly stopped his firing in order to slip an arm around Percy's waist and hoist him up. When Fred reached to help him, he shook his head, "No, you guard us. You'll need your hand free. Ron! Help me with him!"

He did distantly wonder at how easy it was to speak of Fred having only one arm, even though he'd always found it hard to even think about. Granted, he had not remembered that incident in many months, but still. He guessed that it was the severity of the situation. He saw Fred hesitate and frown, but then nod in resolution and stand to start firing at the spiders again. Seconds later, Ron appeared and took up Percy's other side.

Percy's head lolled when they stood, and his body was limp. He did moan once, long and low. He gave a weak attempt to stand or at least to help relieve the burden a little, but he simply collapsed before simply passing out from the pain of his wounds.

Harry had to pretend that the sticky wetness that had begun to cling to his side didn't bother him. He caught Malfoy staring, and he ignored that too. Instead, he steadied the older male with a mutual stare from Ron, and then looked back he he heard Lavi shout,

"Alright, I'm about to shrink this, so you better be ready to run like hell!"

The hammer began to shrink seconds later, and for a moment, all was still. Then a great spider emerged from the darkness – it was about as big as a small car. It struggled it's way through the hole while many smaller spiders began to scurry inside. Lavi let out a few choice words as he swung his Innocence and knocked several of the spiders aside, but they were quickly replaced. He turned and ran right behind Harry and the others, mumbling about the insanity that was giant, malevolent spiders.

Harry could see Malfoy was extremely pale and sweating, his hands shaking. Hermione was in the lead with Fred, both of whom kept their wands up and at the ready. They all stumbled over the wood and stone scattered about, going as fast as they could. They all had to set themselves to Harry and Ron's pace, seeing as they were carrying dead weight, but thankfully the spiders disappeared from sight after the first turn and didn't seem interested in pursuing them.

They passed groups of people dueling, focusing only on getting to their destination and hoping dearly that it was a good place to go. Percy's wound's were not altogether life threatening – not _yet_. But his condition would no doubt steadily worsen the more time that went by. Already he seemed to be losing a bit of his heat, his skin turning into a sickly gray color.

They came across a hallway that was mostly destroyed. The floor was gone at one point for several feet, the wall next to it similarly destroyed, and as they neared, a level one akuma rose from the large hole in the floor. It trained it's guns on them, and Harry hissed in apprehension as he heard Lavi curse from behind them.

The hammer destroyed the akuma just in time, and they only had a moment or two to sigh in relief. It was also Lavi's hammer that allowed them to cross the giant hole in their way and continue on. They ran on.

_-*-_

McGonagall sprinted down the hall, her hair undone. She felt herself more aware than any other time she could remember. She almost felt young – almost, because she could not ignore that she was not as fast of nimble as those younger than her. But she was more experienced, more knowledgeable, and more skilled than most of those younger than her.

She'd always been a fierce fighter. She never showed that side of herself to her students because it was not necessary. It was now though, and as she shouted,

"CHARGE!" She felt her adrenaline pumping. Desks galloped past her, and as she ran, she saw Harry Potter when she passed by a connecting hallway. Then she was turning onto another, and another, taking a morbid satisfaction as Death Eaters were mauled by moving desks and more inanimate-made-animate objects.

She came onto a smaller hallway as she threw spells and charms at the Death Eaters. The wall was completely blown off, and she wouldn't have noticed the level one akuma if she hadn't heard the click of its guns. The Death Eater she'd just started dueling spun around quick enough that she suspected that they'd had practice.

The akuma pointed it's guns mostly in her general direction, though she didn't think that it was because it was intelligent enough to know who it's 'allies' were. She'd like to think that it was because she looked more threatening, but in the end, it didn't really matter.

She threw up shield charm after shield charm, much like what she'd done earlier. Then sound exploded as the bullets emerged from the barrels. She felt as if a heavy weight had suddenly descended to rest on her shoulder. The physical force that the bullets created on her shields was harsh – by the time they finally, finally stopped, she was on her knees and her shield charms collectively had a large crack with many smaller spider cracks running off in different directions. One glance told her the other Death Eater in the hallway hadn't been strong enough and their own shields had fallen. They were riddled with bullet holes, and moments later crumbled to dust.

Seeing that person become dust almost made her flinch. Not in sympathy, but because she couldn't deny that the thought of a simple scratch would be enough to do the same to her. She knew her strength couldn't last forever, and sooner or later, her luck might run out and her shields would fail her before it was safe for them to do so.

The layers of them shattered then, and she tried to put up more, despite her heavy breathing and just as heavy limbs. She heard the clicks as the akuma seemed to 'reload', and she grit her teeth to prepare herself to put her all into the next barrage – she didn't have enough strength at this moment to run, and there was no spell to destroy the creature that she could use.

It was just as she expected the thing to shoot again that she heard a high pitched whistling that alarmed her. Seconds later, a meteor seemed to fly directly through the akuma, crashing into the floor not far in front of her. Despite her initial impression, the akuma exploded immediately. The fire briefly hurt her eyes to look at, but she knew better than to close her eyes if she could help it. It was because her eyes were watering that she first mistook the lump on the ground for some kind of glowing green ball. But then it _moved_, and she muttered a quick spell that cleared her eyesight.

She found that it was not even something entirely strange – it was a girl. She recognized her as the one who McGonagall seen flying from that glowing white doorway that Walker had opened. The girl was young, younger than Harry even. She wore a uniform, and on her heart was the symbol for the Black Order. Around her feet was a pair of boots unlike anything McGonagall had seen before, and at the heels behind some butterfly-esq design, was what appeared to be a glowing green fire.

"Are you alright?" The girl asked in concern. McGonagall was startled and appalled. The girl's skirt was torn, and the uniform jacket was as well. The girl's hair was in disarray, and she wore burns and cuts, particularly along her legs.

"I will live," It came out slightly more sarcastic than McGonagall had intended, and she tried to amend that when she spoke again, "You're an exorcist, correct? Please come here."

The girl did, with an expression of curiosity. When she was close enough, McGonagall intoned several healing spells that she knew of; scrapes disappeared and the burns lessened in intensity. Her face showed her surprise.

"That's amazing," The exorcist exclaimed, twirling around to look herself over, "Thank you!"

"Of course. Though I am not very good with healing spells," The professor nodded, feeling both grateful and pity towards the other. She was momentarily surprised when, as she went to stand, the girl gentle grasped her arm and helped her up. McGonagall found that the other really was much stronger than she appeared.

"My name is Lenalee Lee," The girl smiled so innocently that it made the teacher wonder, "I've got to get back, but thank you again."

"No," McGonagall replied solemnly, "Thank _you_. Please take care of yourself."

"I will," Lenalee nodded, and when she looked back out of the missing wall, her face turned serious and determined. Then she knelt and pushed off, shooting out into the night, followed by a trail of bright green.

McGonagall watched for a minute. She'd recognized that last name. So that had been Komui's younger sister? She tried to imagine what it must be like for that man to send his sister off on missions she may never come back from, and decided it would be best to stop that train of thought before she became angry. This was no place for children.

But they would do what they had to, to win this war.

_-*-_

Neville yelled loudly as he tossed a Mandrake over the side of the castle, though his yell was muffled by his earmuffs. Several people on the ground a ways away yelled as well, covering their ears as the painful cries of the Mandrakes found their ears. Several fell to the ground, unconscious. He let out something akin to a laugh at the sight of it all.

Several students were with him, and he grinned as he distantly heard their own cries of triumph. Madam Sprout was the one more concentrated of tossing aside any and all cruses or spells that came their way, and it was he who was mostly directing them.

"Ready another volley!" He yelled, hoping they could hear him. They did, and began to line up another row of Mandrakes, ready to be thrown far out into the battlefield. He shot several spells into the mix while he waited, and when he heard another students shout, he grinned again and shouted, "Fire!"

The plants were thrown again, their screams becoming distant. Not all Death Eaters were idiots though, and several just used spells that covered their ears or just put a silencing spell on the plants themselves. Many still were knocked out before they had the chance though, and that made it worth it.

Then he heard a loud, high pitched scream that cut through his earmuffs with ease. He didn't even have time to turn – the tower he stood on gave a great lurch and then there was an explosion that sent his world white for several long minutes. He felt the rumble and the heat stinging his cheek and side.

When it slowed and then stopped, he felt himself coming back together. He realized he'd fallen to the ground during the explosion, and he felt his cheek burning, and the chilled air felt good against it. He felt a little dizzy, but he forced himself to sit up on his knees.

Part of the tower was gone completely. Out of the eight of them that had been there, including professor Sprout, there was now six. And out across the way, floating in mid-air, were several akuma, all identical, and a couple more that looked unique. He'd read that article, so he knew that the identical one's were called Level One, but he couldn't tell what the unique ones were, whether they were Level Twos, or Level Threes.

He could only sit there and stare for several long moments, but then he heard crying. Startled, his eyes were drawn to another student... but they were stuck in the rubble a little ways down, and obviously hurt, though he couldn't tell how badly. He guessed they'd stood a little too close to the explosion. The other student that was missing was probably buried completely, if not dead. He looked back up; the akuma were ready to attack again, if they were going to. It was possible to survive the barrage, he knew, but only if their were strong enough shields, and that injured student below wouldn't have a chance.

He didn't really think about it. He could feel his cold determination fill his entire being, and he ignored the shout of his name from professor Sprout. Instead, he'd already pushed himself over the edge and swung onto the floor below, moments later jumping about half a story below onto some of the rubble balanced precariously on the edge of what remained on that floor. When he landed though, a stone under his foot shifted and he almost fell. Pain shot through his ankle as he minorly twisted it, but he still hopped quickly over to where the caught student was.

He recognized her up close. Before, she'd been too dirty and it'd been to dark, but now he could see that it was Hannah Abott, and he looked her over, feeling horrible when he saw her tear stained face. He found the source of the problem quickly enough. One of her legs was caught under some stone, and though it didn't look crushed, it was obviously being cut into pretty badly.

His levitation spell wasn't strong enough to lift the stone, as it was much too large. When he heard shouting, he instinctively dove behind the stone and pulled her close so that no part of her was exposed. She nearly screamed at the pain of it, but then the bullets drowned her out. It rained against the stone, and he, sweating, prayed that it would hold.

Then a shadow descended, and he blinked when he found in the blink of an eye, another person resided behind the stone with them. They were exorcist, that was easy to see. It was a new one though. This man had a strange gravity defying white streak of hair, extremely sharp looking teeth, and a ferocious looking expression.

The exorcist followed Hannah's body to see her leg, stuck as it was. He then looked back at Neville and gave a grin that was no less ferocious than his frown was.

"Well done," the man said, and Neville grit his teeth in surprise when a bullet hit the ground near his leg. Moments later, the bullets stopped, and silence seemed to fall. For a moment, he thought it was perhaps because he was wearing earmuffs still, but then he realized he wasn't. He didn't remember taking them off, but they weren't around his neck either.

Shouts of his name came from above, and before he could call back that he was alright, the exorcist stood and spoke again,

"This will hurt, but bare with me, it will only be for a second," Then the man knelt slightly and gripped the bottom edge of the stone. His arms bulged with the effort, and he grunted and strained. Hannah cried out, sobbing as it slowly lifted. Then, abruptly, the man heaved upwards and the stone went flying outwards.

Then blackness covered Neville's vision, and he felt suddenly weightless. It took a moment to realize he was getting an eye full of the exorcists cloak, and that he'd grabbed both of them and _jumped_. For a moment, he was able to look down and see the fight below and just how far a drop it was.

Then they landed back on top of the tower and the man set them down. Professor Sprout was immediately converging on Hannah, who gripped her badly bleeding leg and grit her teeth as she tried her best to stop crying. Neville scrambled up as he saw the exorcist step up onto the small railing of the tower.

"Thank you," He said, feeling that it was obvious, but that it should still be said, "That was brilliant."

Their eyes connected for a moment, and the exorcist smiled, though it didn't look very gentle.

"It's my job. Though that's nice to hear."

"Take them down," Neville exclaimed when the other turned towards the akuma.

"I intend to," It came out as a growl, and then the man launched himself forward – the leap was plenty long enough, and he landed a ways away, on top of a Level one.

Neville couldn't help but be amazed as he watched the exorcist fight, beating the creatures nobody else apparently could. He clenched his fist as he watched the victory, feeling his spirit lighten just a little. They could win. This _wasn't_ an impossible war.

_-*-_

Ginny shot spells with a relish. Sometimes she used ones that weren't something many people might expect that she would use, but she didn't feel guilty for it. She was filled with the feeling that any minute someone might notice she wasn't where she was suppose to be and force her back out of the fight. She had to make every minute, every spell, count, and so she aimed with as much precision that she could draw up, and as much power into each strike as she could muster.

She had as much right to be here as anyone else did, and she was going to to fight if it was the las thing she did. Which it might be, she reflected as she narrowly dodged a cutting curse. She breathed hard as she barely managed to paralyze the original caster of the cutting curse that had almost hit her, and sent a bat bogey hex at another Death Eater out a window when their eyes met.

Boils erupted on her arm and she looked to see another member of Dumbledore's Army send her an apologetic look. She was the one who managed to stupefy the Death Eater that had been trying to sneak up on the other student, and seeing the other's startled face she yelled,

"Pay attention! Do you _want_ to die?!"

Then she spun away before she could see the other's answering expression. She shot down another hallway to get a better vantage point, using a quick spell to smash the window more thoroughly since much of the glass had still been in her way. She began to steadily fire off spells and hexes into the crowd, never hitting an ally. Sometimes, when she saw a Death Eater she recognized and hated, she would use more damaging spells that her mother would throw a fit about if she knew her daughter was using them like an old pro.

She did briefly see a girl shoot off from the castle, followed by a glowing green trail, but then she returned her attention back towards the fighting.

Eventually she tired of her spot and moved on to find a new one. She internally hoped that she'd come across more fighting in the halls. She wanted to fight more directly, but as much as she hated to admit it, she knew better than to rush out into that huge group of hazardous duels. She ended up getting her wish.

She was running down the hall when the window not far in front of her exploded and a glowing figure slammed into the wall. She'd skidded to a halt as soon as the glass shattered, shielding her face with her arms. She felt some glass slide through the skin on her forearms, and lowered them just enough to see what was going on.

She found a glowing figure that was certainly not human climbing out of a small crater in the wall it'd landed against. It was kinda small, but eternally glowing. It crawled out on all fours, and she thought she heard it saying something, but then it noticed her. For a moment, all was still. Then it's face went comically wide and she saw it move. She tried to bring up her wand and cast a shield charm – she just barely managed to do it in time, and she momentarily felt proud of herself – but then it shattered the moment the akuma touched it. An arm wrapped around her waist and hoisted her straight off the ground, and because it hadn't slowed down or stopped moving, it felt like something huge and heavy had slammed against her stomach. Her breath was knocked out of her, and she weakened wrapped the akuma's shoulder and tried desperately to get her breath back.

"..Put...me..... _down_," She wheezed. She didn't have the breath or strength to struggle, but then, just as they started to turn the corner, the whole hallway exploded, glass raining down on them. The akuma that had a hold of her lunged forward, shielding her from the most of it, and managed to round another two corners before it abruptly set her down and began to look her over with almost amusing frantic guilt and concern.

"Are you alright?!" It exclaimed, eyes wide, "Did it get you?! The glass? You're bleeding!"

Now it was practically running around in circles, and she blinked in utter confusion as she finally began to get her breath back in quick gasps. She found that her shoulder _was_ bleeding, but it was because of the glass.

"What _are_ you?" She demanded, "Aren't you suppose to be... I don't know, trying to kill me?"

"...What?" The akuma froze in it's tracks, looking back at her like she had lost her mind, "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, you tell me!" She shook her head, motioning an arm towards the front of the battlefield, and as she did, the ground shook violently, "That's just what your kind _do_, isn't it?!"

"...What?" It said again.

Then the hairs on the back of her neck rose and another voice spoke,

"You are not very good at hide and seek, for a child."

She got to look over her shoulder in time to spot another akuma standing a few feet away, looking very similar in some roundabout way to one of those stereotypical ninjas. Then it held up a hand and suddenly she felt herself being pulled forward by a force that she could hardly comprehend. She couldn't even move, but then she slammed into something hard.

It was the glowing akuma, and she felt as if she were being crushed for several seconds. Then she heard the distant sound of more glass shattering before the pull forcing her against the akuma gave away.

"What... was that?" She asked weakly, trying to push away from it, knowing that it simply couldn't be wise to trust any akuma. It was like trusting a Death Eater, and it just didn't happen.

"That one's ability is like magnetic force," The akuma said, sounding slightly panicked, "Except it works on whatever it wants it to."

"It didn't work on you though!" She accused.

"That's because-!"

The castle wall blew up around the are they had escaped from, and they didn't get very far before the other akuma was right behind them, and Ginny let out a cry of surprise and fear, though she wouldn't admit to it later. Then the one carrying her gave a big jerk, and she looked down to see a pole sticking out of it's stomach area.

They began to fall pretty quickly, but at the last minute, it managed to pull up and stop them from crashing painfully. She immediately jumped off before moving closer and kneeling down, cursing her own guilt as she examined the pole. It had just barely missed her, and it was obviously having quite the trouble standing again. The pole gave a jerk backwards before slamming forward again just as the other akuma landed in front of them.

She felt her eyes burn when the one that had saved her let out a pained grunt and reached down to hold onto the pole, even when it gave another jerk.

"'t's not that easy, jerk!" The glowing one yelled. The other one chuckled.

Which ended mid-sentence when it's head literally went missing.

For a moment, Ginny was clueless, but then she realized that it's head had been blown off by the force of a punch to the back of it's skull. It's head had flown off somewhere behind her, and seconds later bot it and the body exploded.

When the flame and dust disappeared, she found a very big, very angry looking monkey looking at them.

Then a woman stepped out from behind it, with blond hair and a whip in one hand, and a little boy thrown over her shoulder. The boy seemed to be unconscious, but he wore the exorcist uniform. If Ginny weren't feeling so strange, what with this whole war going on, she would have been utterly offended. That boy wasn't even old enough to attend Hogwarts, and he was allowed to be an exorcist?

"Nice try," The woman said indifferently, "But you're not ready yet to take on a Level Three."

The glowing akuma abruptly disintegrated, and before her shock could give away to anger or sadness, the little boy on the woman's shoulder just as abruptly reanimated. He wriggled a little before dropping to the ground with a small little grunt and hurried over to her.

"Are you alright?!" He exclaimed, "Did the pole get you? I thought it did, but I wasn't sure, and-"

"Wait!" She interrupted incrudeously, "That-that was you?! That glowing akuma thing, that was you?!"

"Yeah!" He nodded at high speed, "I'm an exorcist, that's-"

He was cut off again when she suddenly reached out to hug him. When she pulled him back, his face was red and he looked dazed,

"I'm fine," She assured him, "But are you? I mean... didn't you just... die, or something?"

She waved with one hand towards where the glowing figure she'd thought was an akuma had disintegrated.

"No!" He shook himself out of his daze, though his face was still red and he didn't look her in the eyes. She thought it was distantly cute. "I'm okay. Just fine. I'm getting really strong, after all."

"I bet," She replied with a slight smile.

"Timothy," The woman spoke firmly.

The little boy looked down with a slightly dejected expression. When he wasn't looking at her, she noticed that the woman had her fair share of wounds. She figured that the other had been protecting the boy, Timothy, from harm.

"Okay," He said with a sigh.

"It's okay," Ginny grinned slightly, though she thought she hid her worry pretty well, "Just be careful, ok? You had me worried there..."

There was a bit of silence, and she didn't miss the way that Timothy seemed reluctant to leave or that his face still had a pink tint to it, before the woman spoke again,

"If you could provide some cover with your spells, that would be appreciated."

"I'll do my best," Ginny answered as her eyes lit up. She nodded excitedly and smiled. She was admittedly surprised when the other woman held out her hand,

"My name is Cloud Nyne, general exorcist.. Pleasure to meet you. This is my student, Timothy Hearst."

"Ginny Weasly," She answered as she took the hand and shook it, "Hogwarts student."

Both shared a firm nod as they turned back to business. She would do the best she could, and them some. Weasly's were known for their determination and resilience for a reason.

__--*--__

A/N: whoo, got a little bit of wind back somewhere in the middle, then lost it again towards the end ^^; Again, sorry for the lateness, but the 'warning' still stands. I hope that everyone likes the looks into what's going on with others. I think there will be more scenes – maybe I'll be able to get an appearance from every exorcist in here... Hmmm.... XDDD

Anyways, you guys have been amazing. I really appreciate the reviews. It makes me feel guilty for being late (and the future lateness), but at least it ensures that I'm never _too_ late?

Hint hint? XDDDDD


	46. Chapter 46

A/N: My hands are freezing XDD

Thanks to everyone who reviewed and to everyone who said they liked the Manga! To break 900... I'm really amazed! You don't even know XDDD Also, everyone read the new chapter? I still think there should be more pages to those :/ But it was interesting. I love the cover page. Curiosity and confusion are driving me nuts though. Especially about the whole Kanda's 'real memories' thing...

By the way, who's interested in voice acting? You see, myself and a friend are going to be starting this animation thing here soon, and we need voices. I'm going to be posting a video soon about it, but I was just wondering who might be interested? (Two are girls, one is an old short guy, another is a younger guy who's pretty perverted but also fierce (Needs a kinda lower voice), and the last one is a guy who is also perverted, but is bi, and is pretty lively and teasing.)

__--*--__

Harry counted himself lucky when he stepped through the doors into the Great Hall and found that it really was where the wounded were being taken. They were lined up, and it was only those who had been lucky enough to have either crawled here on their own, or had someone else drag them here. For that reason, there weren't an overwhelming number of wounded or dead, but he knew that that was only because most of those who were wounded or dead were still out on the battlefield.

Madam Pomfrey was there, and she hustled over with a pale face and had to tilt Percy's head up to see the worst of the damage. Her face was grim as she looked, but then she nodded and turned away,

"Carry him over here, boys," She demanded as she led the way to a free spot. Once they arrived, she summoned a cot and had them set Percy down there. Harry's shoulders were sore and aching by the time that the weight was gone, and he knew that Ron was the same way, if the way the other rolled his shoulders with a wince was any indication. The nurse was immediately summoning potions and balms to her side, but all she could do was stabilize Percy and make sure he would live. Once she did that, she was forced to simply leave his side and move to help the ones who were much more wounded.

Fred looked down at his elder brother solemly, and Ron clenched his fist as he watched. Harry felt horrible, and unsure what his next step was. A hand landed on his shoulder and he jumped pretty severely. Looking, he found Komui.

"You're still here.... sir?" He added belatedly, knowing internally that the man didn't really mind whether he used the term of address or not but finding that he was more comfortable that way.

"Of course," Komui said as his glasses glinted eerily, "I am not the only one either."

A wave of his hand and Harry noticed the Matron scurrying over in their direction. She gave him a sever look and Lavi a once over as she moved by them to bend over Percy.

"Unfortunately," Komui sighed, "We're not as helpful as the Madam here, seeing as we don't know magic or their alchemy, but where the Madam cannot go because she is too busy, at least the Matron can stabilize some of those who might have died in the wait."

"It looks like you're still severely understaffed though," Lavi commented as he looked around. Indeed, while their were some students that knew a thing or two that was helping, along with the Matron and her assistants, there were still many more patients than they could treat in time.

"Is that Miranda?" Harry asked, startled after he too had looked around more thoroughly. The female exorcist sat to the side, with a small group of people that were unconscious. They appeared to be half-dead, and there was a circle of light that hovered around them.

"She couldn't resist," Komui relied with the smallest of smiles, followed by a frown, "it's very hard for her to see so many people about to die and unable to help. Some of the ones most wounded and on the verge of death have been separated for her to use her Innocence on. For those over there, their time has stopped until the Matron or the Madam can see them."

"She looks really tired," Harry frowned as well as he watched the woman sit with a pale face and shaking hands, though that might have been completely from her reaction to her surroundings or her feelings, rather than exhaustion.

"I don't know how long she'll last with her Innocence activated on so many people, seeing how it is also on the exorcists, but I think she'll hold out long enough."

"I hope so," Lavi said, rubbing the back of his neck, "It would be pretty bad if we suddenly got all our 'time' back right in the middle of the fight."

Draco and Hermione appeared quite confused, but Harry thought that this wasn't really the time to explain. He'd always been fascinated with Miranda's Innocence, but he knew better than to expect _too_ much from it.

"Miranda will be just fine," Komui reassured them with a small but confident smile, "Now, Harry, any luck with finding a Horcrux?"

"Yes," Harry nodded quickly, "We've already found and destroyed one. There's two left, one of which is Voldemort's snake, and the other is Voldemort himself."

"Any plans on how to go about that?"

"...Not exactly," He hesitated slightly as he felt his scar give a faint twinge, "The snake probably needs to go first, but he's been keeping it close."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I...." He frowned slightly, "No but..."

It was easier than he ever remembered it being. One moment he was standing in the Great Hall amongst many dead and wounded, and the next he was sitting in an old shack he recognized. The slip into the Dark Wizard's mind had been smooth, and he knew that he remained undetected.

He was sitting in a large wooden chair, and Nagini floated behind him in a round glowing magical construct. He knew it was to keep it safe, and alive. He was looking down at a Death Eater he vaguely recognized – Walden Macnair.

"Go and fetch Snape," He said.

"If that is what you desire, M'Lord," The Death Eater replied solemnly, "What shall I do if he is still possessing one of those creatures?"

"I do not care," He rolled his wand between his fingers almost lazily, "I do not care what you do, so long as you bring him to me in one piece and in a timely matter."

"Yes, M'Lord," The other bowed low, eyes shining alight with realization. He could see it, but did not care. Let the man think what he wanted, it hardly mattered to him.

As the room became empty of the other man's presence once more, he turned and looked at his giant snake, still hanging in suspension. This was the only way to keep her safe, not only from the Boy or others, but from the akuma. The only one, _only_ one, who could breach that protection was that bloody Noah, and he was not here. He had nothing to worry about.

Then Harry was himself again, breathing hard as if from heavy exertion. He felt as if he'd been deaf and blind up until that moment, as the screams, cries, explosions and smashes erupted around him once again.

"He's in the Shrieking Shack," He announced to the startled onlookers, "He's just sent Macnair to find Snape. I don't know why, but I think Voldemort's planning to either kill or torture him. He's done something wrong, I don't know what, and the snakes there too. It's surrounded by some kind of magical protection on it."

"He's not even _fighting_?!" Hermione exclaimed angrily, "He's just sitting there?!"

"He knows there's no point," Harry explained grimly, "He knows we need to go to him. He knows what we're after, and he's keeping the only other Horcrux right at his side, so I'm going to have to go through him to get to the thing-"

"That's no good," Ron frowned heavily, "What if something happens to you before you can get to the snake? I should go and get rid of it instead-"

"What?" Harry, Hermione, and Draco intoned together, though all for different reasons.

"No way, you'll die before you could get even close to it-" Draco exclaimed.

"I'm just as capable, I should go-" Hermione argued.

"You're all crazy," Harry looked between them in bewilderment, "_I'm_ the one with the best chance out of all of us, there's no way I'm going to just let one of you go, that's suicide!"

"I think you're all going about this the wrong way," Lavi announced above their loud voices, "Where is this Shrieking Shack?"

Hermione told him as Fred jumped out towards a new fight happening just outside the Great Hall doors of Death Eaters trying to get in.

"That's not that far," Lavi started when she finished, "I don't think this is a issue of which one person gets to go. I thought Hermione was the smart one, so why aren't even you using your brains?"

Hermione blushed, though whether in embarrassment or frustration, Harry didn't know. Draco appeared slightly disgruntled that the Muggle-born's intelligence had been placed above his own, but even he seemed to realize that now was definitely not the time to argue about pure blood supremacy. Ron seemed torn between being annoyed at the compliment to the girl he liked, proud because of that same compliment, and yet still offended at the insult. Harry himself _tried_ to think and plan, but every idea fell to ashes the moment it started to take place.

"Lavi!" A voice suddenly called out, "Harry!"

It was Allen, jumping clear over the crowds outside the door and running up to them. His eye appeared red and irritated, as well as activated. Harry realized that the other must have seen his forced vision and come to see what they were doing.

"Allen!" Lavi's eyes lit up, and as the younger exorcist stopped by them, he asked eagerly, "How's it going out there? How many are left?"

"It's bearable, at the moment," The white haired boy replied, "Having three generals makes a huge difference out there. I would've stayed but I saw – you're planning to go to Him, aren't you?"

The question was directed at Harry, so Harry nodded,

"I don't have a choice. He and his snake are the last Horcruxes left. I need to destroy them."

"I'll go with you," The other started.

"Allen-" Komui interrupted, before being interrupted in turn,

"I sense akuma out across the lands, mostly concentrated around two spots. Lavi and I can take care of them."

Komui hesitated before nodding with a slight sigh,

"Fine then. Be careful."

"Of course," The other smiled almost cheerfully, the same smile that Harry could recognize now on sight. It never failed to creep him out, though not in the same way that 'Black Allen' creeped him out.

"It's this way, then," He took the lead, waving in Miranda's vague direction when they passed her. She noticed, and gave a small tired smile in return, though it shook slightly. He and the others quickly cleared a small path through the doorway, until they were standing on the steps leading outside.

The grass was torn, and it looked like a scene from an old war movie – there were large explosion craters and scorched ground. Stone littered the area around them, and he could see that several towers were gone completely, with many walls in similar shape. It looked horrible.

There were people fighting left and right. There were giants that waged war against them, and he realized that Gwrap really _was_ small for a giant. There were centaurs fighting on their side, which distantly surprised him.

They didn't get far; maybe ten steps from the entrance, there was an explosion right in front of them. Harry felt himself get blown away. He thought he should be use to it by now, but the surprise, panic, and the sting of the burns were just as terrifying as before. He kept his eyes shut and his arms up, covering his face and saving himself some pretty painful burns by transferring them instead to his forearms.

He knew he's landed when the top of his head hit a large heavy stone and his breath was knocked out of his by the hard, unforgiving ground under him. It took several long moments before his vision cleared and his breath returned. When it did, he found that he'd been blown quite a ways to the side.

Allen was already up and looking off into the sky with a worried frown. One glance told him that he had no idea what the other was seeing, so he stood warily and looked around for the others.

They had been blasted the opposite direction, and Hermione had been knocked unconscious. While Ron worried over her body and Malfoy bent over an awkward looking bent leg, Lavi was checking over them all. Feeling relieved that his friends seemed to be fine, though only a vague kind of remorse directed at what appeared to be Malfoy's broken leg, he looked back to see Allen still staring off in the same spot. This time, however, his face was extremely pale and his eyes were wide. He looked woozy and unsteady on his feet.

"Allen?" Harry called cautiously, "Allen, what's wrong?"

The white head of hair shook slightly, and then he felt it. At first it was an unregistered cold draft of air, but then he spotted the black cloaks that were closing in on them, fast. It was as if his eyesight narrowed down to tunnel vision, even though he hadn't hit his head _that_ hard. It almost seemed like he could see his hope and determination flowing away from him through that tunnel.

The dementers came closer, and Harry tried valiantly to summon a Patronus. He didn't even realize it when he slid back to his knees, still trying to cast the only spell that could drive those creatures away. They came closer, and closer, until their cloaks waved in the wind only a few yards from them.

Allen screamed. It was sudden and terrifying. He received a small flashback towards that fight in which Allen had stabbed himself with his own sword, which shouldn't have affected him at all, but had. The scream then had been one of nightmares, and the scream now was even worse.

He spun, eyes wide, his vision spreading back out although it was still dark around the edges. Allen was on the ground, on his knees, clutching his head. It was as if he too was having an episode in which somebody was in his head, or he was in somebodies else's, but Harry didn't know what was really wrong. And as he watched, he felt as if all his positive emotions were being violently ripped away.

His trust and hope in the exorcists were slipping away; why should he trust some organization that was so shady? His determination that he would do what he had to do when the time came; What if he went and hide in some remote place? What if he could start a normal life? His happiness at seeing everyone again; It was his appearance that was causing them to fight, and thus die. His secret pleasure that there were so many people who believed in him; replaced by fear of letting them all down.

He felt weak and unsteady. The irrational fear and sadness consuming him was unnatural, it wasn't meant to be there. He tried to remember all his reasons and all his friends, but all he really remembered was the bad things. His lack of family, the death of so many people going on around him, the loss of his god father, and Moody, and everyone else. All the lies and desperation that had ever surrounded him seemed magnified, increasing his own anger and fear and depression. There were tears clinging to his eyelashes, and he could see the pattern – he didn't have long now, not before he would pass out.

Allen was still screaming, screaming himself hoarse and his throat raw. It was a terrible sound that Harry had never heard, had never wanted to hear, and prayed he'd never have to hear again. One desolate thought entered his mind – his life was pretty horrible, but what about Allen? It was a sign of his resilience that he was still able to have a stray thought that was concerned about somebody else.

Lavi cried out behind him somewhere, and he could only guess whether or not Ron was okay. Seeing as there was no Patronus around, he'd fallen pray to the dementers powers too, so far.

Then Allen went still. He did not move, didn't even seem to breath. Then he looked up, his facial expression fairly pleasant and unfamiliar.

And he had golden eyes.

He didn't have those color eyes naturally. And a person's eye color doesn't just sporadically change, not unless you had a really good reason, and Allen had none of those reasons. The only other way, including that specific color, was something he recognized as a thing only the Noah could do. But Noah couldn't be exorcist; it was physically impossible.

Right?

The dementers stopped in their tracks. Their wispy forms seemed almost indecisive. Harry had never seen dementers hesitate. He watched as Allen's newly turned golden eyes locked with the dementers closest him. The exorcist tilted his head to the side slowly, languidly.

Then he saw a glowing silver form sweep past him. It was Hermione's Patronus, accompanied several long seconds later by Ron's own. He glanced back and found a woozy Ron and Hermione, who only had wide eyes for Allen.

He looked back and almost jumped when Allen's eyes were watching him. It was eery, and unrecognizable. Allen was a unique and pure person, and those eyes did not match Allen's personality. Then the boy jerked his head to the side, clutching it again and giving a soft cry.

"I...am....not!" He murmured fiercely, "I am.... Allen Walker!"

That he had to remind himself who he was worried Harry. He didn't want to admit it, but that brief glimpse of another person, for that's all it could be, and scared him. It sent shivers and cold chills right through his bones, until his flesh rose in goosebumps and his body felt colder than it should.

He was close enough to touch the other; despite feeling that he _should_, that he should so _something_, he couldn't bring himself to reach his hand out. His mind was still clearing and his emotions still organizing themselves. He felt all out of whack, and generally unwell.

Then he heard shouts and saw the akuma bullets just in time. Though he saw it in time, he didn't have the reaction time to do much more than twitch. Thankfully, there were those that could, and he found himself airborne as Allen had grabbed him and jumped towards safety. He couldn't hide his anxiousness, so he called softly,

"Allen?"

"I...." The other looked down at him with his normal eyes and demeanor, though he carried a weak and tired smile, "I'll be alright."

That didn't look like something one could really recover from just like that. He wanted to argue or demand the truth, but he was wary about it. While he hadn't really been dragged too deeply into the world of the Black Order and the Noah, he still had some internal dislike towards the Noah. The thought that Allen might be one was not comforting; in fact, it was downright horrifying. He didn't know what to think about it. He wanted to pretend it hadn't happened, but he knew it had, and he knew that Hermione had seen something, though _what_ exactly she saw remained unknown.

They landed just as the akuma exploded and a large man with some kind of huge jagged weapon of Mexican decent landed nearby.

"Pathetic!" The man yelled over his shoulder, "Watch your back or get out! All the more for me!"

He laughed loudly and in a voice that didn't sound like the kind of person you'd want to meet alone in the middle of the night. Then he jumped away.

Harry looked at Allen, who still looked pale, but otherwise back to normal. He looked back to fine that Lavi had covered them from harm, and had missed most of the exchange. _Most _of. Harry recognized the look the other got in his eye when he was more Bookman than Exorcist, and this was one of those moments.

"Are you sure?" He asked the other white haired boy a moment later, "You've been fighting for a long while now, maybe you should rest."

"There's no rest for me," The other smiled again, "I will be just fine. Promise. Concentrate on what you need to do."

So he quickly regrouped and looked at the damage done to them, though not until they had moved away from the battle and hidden out of sight from most of it. The worst of it was Malfoy's leg, which was broken at least once in the shin area. They couldn't do much more than set it, and Hermione set the leg on it's path to healing, as well as numbing the pain. She had studied her healing spells in her absence, but all she could do was get the wound started on healing. She knew the least about broken bones, seeing as she'd figured that she would have had to deal with worse wounds, if any at all.

They discussed taking the other back to the Great Hall, but they didn't have time. Sometime in the middle of that conversation, harry began to sporadically fall into visions, even if only for a moment. He was doing his best to keep them at bay, but there was little he could do. Allen was just as disoriented as he was at the continuous change in environment. In the end, he had to be carried by Lavi, while Malfoy was supported by Ron, and hating every second of it.

Harry drifted between the two, mostly just so that he could keep track of what was going on around him, even if only a little.

He watched the exchange between Snape and Voldemort with a tired sort of resignation. It kept him on his toes, though, because he learned that Voldemort quite frankly thought that Snape was the Elder Wands true master, because he had killed Dumbledore. The only way to resolve this, or so the Dark Lord thought, was to kill Snape.

He snapped out of it briefly to see flashes of Allen defeating the akuma gathered at the base of the Whomping Willow. Then he was sucked in again, listening to the exchange and dreading what he could imagine coming. And indeed, Snape did die. He did not, however die the way Harry had expected.

Instead, the snake Nagini tore into the Potion Professors throat, spraying blood everywhere and dropping the man to the floor unceremoniously. He snapped out of it again when he was in a tunnel, crawling through with some prompting from Lavi, who was behind him.

He watched Snape's dying face for a moment or two before he turned and left, pulling Nagini along behind him and filled with a distant sort of comfort that it was _finally_ his.

Then somebody was tugging at his heel, and he realized they had reached the end, and that there was a giant crate in the way of the exit. He waited a moment before giving them the okay to move it.

The room was just the same as it had been in his vision. It was dark and boarded up, all except one window, and Snape lay on the floor, dying as he grasped at his neck and tried to stem the blood flow. Harry stood over him with a vague morbid curiosity. He had his suspicions about the other man, even though he'd never liked him, had hated him even, at one point in time. He watched the other's eyes widen slightly in recognition.

"Take....it," The man struggled to say as a strange silvery substance began to leak among his blood, "...Take....it...."

Hermione handed him a flask that he used to gather the substance with his wand. He knew what it was, but he wouldn't have thought of conjuring a flask, and made a mental note to himself to thank Hermione later. He had to get the stuff inside, all of it, until the flask was filled as far as it could physically go. He watched the blood pour out and wondered how much more there was to go when Snape grabbed his robes and tugged weakly,

"Look...at....me...," He whispered. Their eyes met, and the black eyes stared deep into Harry's own green ones. He didn't know what the other was looking for, and he could only guess the other found it, for moments later the black eyes seemed to lose something, to dim until they were empty. The hand gripping his robes loosened and thudded on the ground. Snape died.

He just knelt there for many long moments, not knowing what he felt. He knew only that he felt like a big ball of yarn, except instead of yarn, it was his emotions instead, all jumbled up and knotted. Then a cold voice swept through the room, making them all jump and the exorcist jump back on their guards sterner than before.

"You have fought, valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery," The voice said, high and freezing and intense, "yet you have sustained very heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste."

Harry swallowed his anger and bitter hate.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself, and hide behind your new suppose guards. I shall wait for one hour in the forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommends. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

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A/N: Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. XDDD I love you? I know I said it was likely I'd be 'late' from now on, but it still annoys me. Oh well. Thanks for being so understanding, either way! I hope everyone's having a good time, and thanks for the reviews. I love reading them. Particularly the long ones XDDD.


	47. Chapter 47

A/N: Remember that little note in the last chapter about voice acting? (I also forgot to mention, as a reviewer pointed out, what the animation was about – It is a completely original storyline, and not an adaption of this story or any other). I posted a video about it here: http:// www(dot)youtube(dot)com /watch?v=elv68gucSOo . Anyone who tries out is completely awesome. If someone does, actually, and actually gets a part, I could, if that person wants, write them a one-shot. Either D. Gray Man, Harry Potter, or a mix of those (As in, a one-shot based on this story.) Though the story line and whatnot is completely up to them.

Edit: Thanks to Kyuubigami for editing this chapter and helping me out!

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The walk back towards the castle was almost completely silent. There were no akuma to run into, which Allen seemed most relieved of. Harry guessed that it had taken some serious concentration to fight off the visions that he'd been having earlier, for how else would the exorcist have been able to fight at the same time?

Hermione and Ron were too much in their own minds to be able to make conversation. They had not seen Snape's actual cause of death, but they had seen him die, and it was a big blow to them. That man, however much they had all disliked him, had taught them steadily for many years. Malfoy was perhaps the most stunned of all. He had gone even more pale; after receiving an affirmative answer to his only question of whether Voldemort had really been the one to kill Snape, he had gone silent and hadn't spoken since. Lavi seemed to understand all too well that now wasn't really the time to talk, and so he kept a diligent look out, just in case.

The giants and centaurs were all gone; outside the castle bodies were strewn everywhere. A Tempus charm told him that dawn would come in just under one hour, but the sky remained just as dark as it had been at midnight. After the hours of screaming and explosions the silence made Harry feel as though he'd gone deaf. It was as though the world had gone silent; no longer were the grounds home to screaming, shouting, or crying, and all of the explosions and bright flashing lights had stopped. The toll it had taken on the castle itself was disastrous: whole walls were gone, one tower was missing while one was half demolished, and inside the once great structure was just as bad. The glass containers that had held all the valuable stones to count the House Points were cracked as if they could break at any second with exception to one: the Slytherin one already shattered, emeralds rolling along on the floor as if to trip the incautious foot. The banister was gone, the wood and marble splintered and scattered across the floor.

They knew the survivors were probably gathered in the Great Hall since that was where the injured had been just a little while ago and there was no place better, but Harry hesitated. He did not want to see who had died for him. He was still hearing Voldemort's words echoing inside his head morbidly and he couldn't help but fear what he might find.

Lavi seemed to tire waiting for them because he took the lead and entered the Great Hall with wide eyes and a new awareness. He seemed to spot something, quickly darting inside and only making Harry more nervous. Ron was next to enter, Hermione grabbing Harry's arm as she followed which, of course, meant Malfoy was forced along since he was still dependent on him for movement.

All the House tables were gone; there was no room for them. The room was crowded with the gathered survivors. The dead were laid out in rows in the middle of the Hall and the wounded were all on a large raised platform being tended to by Madam Pomfrey, the Matron and a large group of helpers.

The exorcists were not far and quite the sight. They all appeared completely untouched; no wounds to be seen though their uniforms were all in various states of disarray. It was almost surreal to notice the difference of Lenalee with her black and red uniform almost in shreds talking quietly with her brother whose lab coat remained untouched. Krory was perhaps the one with the biggest need of a change of clothes. Harry could hear other survivors who were not wounded enough to have been placed on the platform murmuring quietly about the strangeness of the exorcists and who seemed to have all healed way too fast. The only exorcist who was untouched by both violence and wounds was Miranda and she was currently being tended to by Marie. She was shaky and obviously starting to seriously wear out under the emotional strain of seeing so many people around who were hurt or dead.

After a moment Harry brought Draco to the platform and got him onto it with Allen's help. The Matron hurried over to them, instructing them where to put Malfoy before giving them some stern stares while nodding and hurrying off.

He then approached the Weasly's all gathered around Percy. He had been treated as well as could be at the moment, and seemed to have a bit of a fever. Mrs. Weasly was crying loudly though she tried to tone it down, and Mr. Weasly had silent tears running down his cheeks as he tried to sooth his wife. Hermione had already started to comfort Ginny, who was holding up admirably well and Ron had his fists clenched as he knelt down beside his older brother. Harry noticed that beside Percy was George, who had a heavily bandaged head.

"Funny," Percy was whispering as Harry drew closer, "That right when I start to see, I loose my sight." Percy let out a laugh that sounded choked and pained. "That I was blind all this time, and now I really am blinded-"

"Don't talk," Mrs. Weasly pleaded between her tears, "It's going to be just fine, you'll see! You'll see again! They've come up with some amazing cures nowadays, you know-"

"Dear." Mr. Weasly interrupted softly which only made her cry harder. Harry himself didn't know the extent of what magic could heal, but he couldn't help but think that perhaps it just wasn't possible. Now that the wound had been cleaned out and the bleeding stopped, he could see that one eye really was missing completely. The other was in such tatters that it was only a mess of gore and veins that weren't connected to anything anymore. It was Fred who placed a rag over Percy's almost nonexistent eyes so that the damage wasn't as obvious, even though it seemed to hint that the person was dead and not merely wounded.

"Allen!" Lenalee called. "Harry!"

Harry turned to look, and found the girl waving to them grimly. He spotted Lavi just beyond her, talking to Bookman with a serious expression. It only took a moment for him to decide to go over to her; he couldn't stand watching the Weasly's anymore or hear the moans of the many people around him who were in pain. He kept hoping that every second he wouldn't see anybody that he knew, but it almost seemed as if the opposite happened.

As he walked he saw other people laid out around him, many of them people he'd gone to school with for the past seven years. He'd shared classes with them and in some cases he'd shared a dorm with them. It was people that he'd seen almost everyday for three-fourths of every year for six years. He could remember how many of them looked as innocent first years, and now many looked up at him in awe or sadness.

He noticed that everyone shied away from the group of exorcists. Nobody knew how to treat them or what to think of them and while the exorcists were _mostly_ friendly, they didn't know what to think of everyone else, either. That he was approaching them and was then accepted into the seemingly distant and unapproachable group was taken with surprise. He was almost pulled into the group forcibly, and there were grim smiles thrown at him and questions about his health.

"How are you feeling?" Lenalee asked with a thoughtful stare that was too concerned for Harry to feel comfortable, though he was currently too tired to really notice.

"I don't really want to talk about it." he replied grimly, running a hand over his face.

"Alright." She said understandingly as she reached out and wiped away a streak of blood that had run down his cheek. "Why don't you sit down and take a break?"

He really appreciated that she didn't even hesitate to accept his discomfort about the subject and move beyond it, and that she wasn't the only one. He could see the faces around him that had been curious and concerned turn to understanding and patience.

"You too, Allen," she added with a slightly reprimanding scowl. "You look dead on your feet."

"I do not." Allen pouted slightly. "I'm fine, really-"

Her glare cut him off, and he laughed sheepishly, "Okay, maybe for a minute."

Despite his claims he really did appear a bit relieved when he sat down in the chair that Tiedoll had pretty much foisted on him. Harry would have smiled if his shoulders didn't feel so heavy and his face felt like it would crumble if he even tried. He was so _tired._ It was a bone-weary kind of tired, the kind that reached through his body and settled on his soul and did not leave. He sat rather abruptly, leaning on the side of Allen's chair and sighing heavily.

It felt nice to just sit for a moment, but when he opened his eyes he found that there was a great many people staring at him. It was an uncomfortable sensation, and most of them looked away quickly enough when they realized he was aware of them. He caught Ginny's eyes from a ways away and noticed her sad eyes that watched and _knew_ him through and through. He had always appreciated her before, her personality and her appearance, all of it. He'd always understood her too, but he didn't understand her stare this time. It was somehow accusing, but not in the sense that she blamed him for all of this; he knew her at least _that_ well. She'd never blame him for this. It was like there was an invisible wall between them. He wondered when that wall had changed from being Voldemort and turned into this kind of barrier that he didn't recognize.

"Miranda?"

He turned his gaze away, and blinked when he found a weary Miranda standing in front of both him and Allen. While Allen stood pretty quickly and held out a hand to steady her, Harry had to take a little longer to climb to his feet. Now that he'd had just a little chance to relax and calm down, his muscles had started to cry out at him and stiffen up to make if difficult and painful to move.

"I'm sorry," Miranda said, her smile watery and her hand shaking as she reached out. Surprised, Harry took the hand that was being held out to him, stepping forward with a puzzled expression. Suddenly he felt all his pain and weariness fade away as if he'd just woken up from a glorious nap that had worked miracles. The distant pain in his head, the throbbing of his body and the burn behind his eyes were all gone as Miranda collapsed backwards with only a small breath of satisfaction.

Startled he would have reached out to try to grab her but Marie managed it almost instantly. Harry supposed the other had expected that to happen, and had been ready to act accordingly. She was still shaking, and now she looked even weaker than before. She tried to stand on her own but it quickly became apparent that it just wasn't going to happen; Marie picked her up bridal style with no effort.

"Miranda," Allen spoke softly, reaching out to lay a hand on her forehead. "You didn't need to do that. We would have been just fine with a little rest. Can you still hold out?"

She nodded tiredly, her eyes watering as she replied. "But Allen I don't want any of my friends to be in pain." She glanced over his shoulder to Harry. "If I can take it away, even for a little while..."

"You did good," He assured her while smiling radiantly, and Harry realized that she was still looking at him, perhaps worried about him as well. He stepped up and nodded, still unable to smile but at least able to reassure her.

"Thank you," he stated solemnly. She watched them for a moment before nodding and allowing herself to be carried away by Marie back to the wall where he propped her up and took care of her once more.

He noticed that many witches and wizards had noticed the exchange. They seemed mostly awed and curious about the relationship that he had with the exorcists.

"What did she do?" He asked Allen, knowing the basics of her Innocence but not her specific powers.

"She took our 'time' away." Lenalee was the one to answer. "She took it into herself, leaving us in our prime condition. The catch, though, is that she can only hold it for so long – eventually, she'll have to give it back, and that means that all the wounds and the exhaustion and everything will all come back on top of any and all wounds that we might gain in the future, so be very careful."

"Seems really useful." he commented vaguely.

"It is." She agreed.

With his new found energy and maneuverability he decided to look around a little more. He had to gather his courage to even think about what he might find, but then one glance told him more than he needed.

He saw Remus Lupin and Tonks, both side by side and appearing as peaceful as could be as if they were simply sleeping and would wake at any second. Not far from them was Cho Chang, several Ravenclaws gathered around her to mourn her passing. In addition to the dead there were many who were wounded, and several who weren't accounted for at all, no doubt a victim of the akuma's poison.

The blow was huge. He felt even more weight deposited on his shoulders – now Lupin, Tonks, and even Cho were all gone and he would never see them again. They wouldn't be there to talk to or argue with, they wouldn't be there at all.

He didn't care that somebody might be watching him. He slipped out of the Hall intending only to get some fresh air and some private time where he didn't have so many eyes settled on him. It was as if the weight of them pierced through the door, burning through the wood and stone, following him even when he tried to move down the hall in a paranoid attempt to get away from it.

He didn't think anybody who mattered noticed he'd gone. Allen had been conversing quietly with Lenalee, and Lavi hadn't left Bookman's side since he entered the Great Hall. He hadn't even seen Kanda since they'd first separated which admittedly worried him a little.

His original intention just to get away from the stares turned into the urge to get away completely. He went to the Headmaster's office, knowing there was a pensieve there, hoping to see what it was, exactly, Snape had wanted so desperately to show him. He didn't know the password when the stone gargoyle asked, instead merely guessing until he got it right. It was easier than he'd though it would be – his second attempt, Dumbledore, was correct.

Every single portrait in the office was empty, the inhabitants no doubt off around the castle trying to see what had happened at a better vantage point. The pensieve was where it had always been, placed in the cabinet. He heaved it onto the desk, then poured Snape's memories into it. He steadied himself as much as he could before lowering his head.

He watched the memories with growing horror and sadness. It was alright at first – just a small boy in clothes much too big for him watching Lily Evans and her sister from behind some bushes. Harry watched his mother, now younger than himself greedily. He watched the way she laughed in joy as she launched herself from her swing, _flying_, landing much further and much too softly to be normal and the way that Petunia tried to scold her for it. He watched the way Snape accidentally revealed himself, and tried to make up for his blunder by exclaiming that, _obviously_, Lily was a witch and that his mother was one too, and that he himself was a wizard. Petunia believed it to be complete rubbish, but Lily did not. She followed her sister, though, when Snape insulted her, glaring all the while.

The next memory was of Snape talking to Lily about the Wizarding World and the Ministry while they sat in a small thicket of trees. Lily was mesmerized by the whole talk of this magical world and Harry could not blame her. He could see Snape's crush, plain as day as he was not very subtle and he didn't even know _how_ to be. He learned that apparently Snape's parents argued a lot. Then Petunia stumbled into the area, blushing at having been caught spying and in Snape's anger at her insults aimed at him, the tree branch over her cracked and fell, catching her on the shoulder which caused her to burst into tears and run away.

He watched the scene of their first Platform nine and three-quarters visit, and Petunia first learning to call her sister and her 'kind' freaks. He learned that she had been merely jealous this whole time, that she had sent a letter to Dumbledore begging for him to change his mind, but that it had been kindly refused.

Then the train ride, of Snape talking with Lily, hoping aloud that she would be sorted into Slytherin and James Potter's harsh words to the hope. Harry saw Sirius too, and the start of their near-legendary friendship, and the first use of the nickname 'Snivellus'.

He saw the sorting of everyone – Lily, Snape, Pettigrew, Lupin, and of course James.

He saw the beginning of their long standing argument. She didn't like the people he was hanging around with, and he hated James and his group. Harry was still flabbergasted at what he could see was a very close friendship, one he never knew existed. Especially not with his mother and the man who had always seemed to hate him. Snape narrowly managed to avoid a break in the friendship, but his crush was still very much present.

He watched another memory he was now familiar with, the one where his father and Sirius humiliated Snape in front of a huge crowd and the way Snape had shouted at his mother calling her a 'mudblood'. The memory following it was about him trying to apologize, threatening to sleep outside the entrance to Gryffindor Tower. It was the final break – Lily would hear no more from Snape; desperate and sad and pitiful Snape who was so obviously broken up by her decision.

But then the memories began to horrify Harry; it showed him a subtle side of Dumbledore he had not known existed. He saw Snape beg for Lily's life following him telling Voldemort the prophecy, begging Dumbledore to save her, almost on his knees with his plea. He was the most emotional and desperate that Harry had ever seen, and Dumbledore's words were sharp and unforgiving. He showed contempt and even admitted that Snape disgusted him. Harry had to admit that while Snape's disregard for Harry's own life as well as James' wasn't exactly commendable, he couldn't blame the man for it either.

Then came Snape getting the news that Lily was dead. She was gone from this world, but Harry had lived. He was overcome with grief. He cried, his tears very real and very heavy. Perhaps he hadn't been aware of it in his distressed state, but Harry could plainly see the way his old Headmaster manipulated the other man to promise to protect the son of the woman he loved, using his love of her against him.

Afterwards was Snape's report on what he thought of Harry during his first year, and of course, nothing good was said. Then Snape's report on Igor Karkaroff's Dark Mark after the Yule Ball, and Dumbledore's following cutting comment that he thought that sometimes they sort Houses too soon. Then Snape was berating the old man for putting on Marvolo Gaunt's ring, and the subsequent curse that came from it that rendered his life short by giving him only another year at best to live. Snape was then roped into being promised to kill Dumbledore himself, instead of letting Draco Malfoy do it. This was followed with Snape claiming that the other didn't trust him, demanding the same information that Dumbledore gave to Harry himself.

Then he saw the truth, the truth he had sought for so long: he was _supposed_ to die, that he really _was_ a Horcrux to Voldemort, that he must die by Voldemort's hands, and that this had been planned from the very first moment that the prophecy had come true. That Dumbledore had known even in the beginning during Harry's first year that he would send Harry off to find Horcruxes and that Dumbledore would die trying.

Snape was as shocked as he was, outraged all his work was for nothing and that Lily's boy would still die. Dumbledore accused him of caring, but Snape revealed a secret – he had done everything for Lily. Of course he had, but he had proof of more. With a shout of Expecto Patronum, a silver doe emerged from his wand before flying out the window. It was his mother, and it was the same doe that had led Harry to the sword of Gryffindor.

He saw Snape in Sirius's old bedroom, grasping at the second half of the letter that Harry had found though he'd never found the second page. He watched the other man shed tears over seeing Lily's letter and her signature, and he took both the second page and the part of the picture that had come with it, tearing off the smiling face of Lily and taking both with him.

He then saw, no doubt out of order, the other memories: Dumbledore and Snape's very first visit to the Black Order. It was kind of strange to see the exorcists and the Order through them, and it was strange seeing their vaguely distrusting gazes directed at him; it had been too long since he had seen them. He had grown too fond of them and the Order, and the same could be said of them towards him.

Then Harry rose, and he was back in the Headmasters office, stunned and yet indifferent. He felt as if something very big had changed. He had thought, had even been pretty sure, that he might die during this battle but it just wasn't the same when you find out one of the people you had trusted the most had planned it all out. It made sense though, right? Why not use the kid that had to die to find the Horcruxes. Strangely, he couldn't find it in himself to be angry, or even hurt. He simply felt calm and indifferent.

He felt his mind racing as he tried to concentrate on the _true_ meaning of what he had seen, of what he had to do now. One thing Dumbledore had underestimated him on was that he had not killed the snake Nagini. He supposed he should do that, at least, before he died.

He remembered what he had discovered, back when he had stayed at the Black Order. He had discovered it quite suddenly and his subsequent depression had caused him to be quiet and worry the others, Lenalee in particular. He figured they had thought that it was because of Hermione and Ron leaving him, but it wasn't. It was seeing his dead parents again.

He had found the resurrection stone in the snitch Dumbledore had left him, though he had not told anyone about it. He had not touched it since, almost afraid that he would abuse the power that it presented him. He knew that he was being called to gather the Deathly Hallows, though he had not chosen to search them out. It seemed more like _they_ were gathering _him_ than the other way around.

Another half an hour had been spent submerged in Snape's memories. Now he had roughly a little less than fifteen minutes of the time alloted to him from Voldemort left. He stood without shaking before he moved out of the office, down the halls. All of them were empty of even the figures in the portraits. It was like a ghost town, and it was creepy. There was rubble everywhere, destruction touching everywhere he stepped, and as he moved closer to the Great Hall he felt his resolve firming. It was a strange sort of resolve, one that was shaky and yet as firm as he'd ever felt. As he walked, he tried to come up with a plan, tried to come up with multiple plans that he could choose from.

His first thought was just to give himself up. That would surely get him killed just as he needed to be, but that wasn't good enough. He had destroyed every Horcrux so far himself and he felt that if nothing else, if not Voldemort himself, at least he should destroy every other one.

So instead of casting his Invisibility on himself and walking right outside the castle to give himself over, he walked in plain sight and entered the main hall. Neville and Oliver Wood were carrying bodies inside the Great Hall, handling another student that Harry couldn't immediately recognize through the filth with extreme care. He approached them.

"Can I help?" He asked quietly. He felt a strange sort of attachment towards the cold body which his own body would soon copy. Both Neville and Oliver glanced at each other for a moment before Oliver shifted his weight,

"Sure, Harry, you go ahead and take this end. I think I saw somebody else who could use my help."

Harry stepped forward and took the other end with Neville.

"Ready?" The other asked, shifting slightly before nodding. "Okay, this way, yeah, just like that-"

Their entrance into the Great Hall didn't go unnoticed. As soon as they noticed him, Lenalee's eyes lit up and Lavi called out to him loudly, followed closely by Ron who had been alerted by Lavi's yell. Both red heads came bounding up to him, appearing immensely relieved.

"Where've you been?" Ron demanded, "We turn around for one second and you were gone! We thought – we thought -"

It was obvious what they had thought, but Harry couldn't find it in himself to feel bad for disappearing. "I'm fine, see?" he replied. He would have shrugged if he could have, but the weight in his arms was too heavy to do so. "I just needed some fresh air."

"Just don't do that again," Ron snapped, and Lavi nodded in agreement, his weariness not leaving as quickly as it had for Ron.

"Sorry," He lied.

"Everyone's working on finding... finding the bodies, and to sort themselves out," Ron continued after a moment, following them as Harry and Neville took the body to lay along in the rows of others. Harry got a good glimpse at the wounded platform. As Ron talked, he watch out of the corner of his eye as Komui, sleeves rolled up, worked diligently to help the Matron and Krory carrying a body in the Hall all by himself. He noticed Ginny talking quietly with Timothy, who was frowning at her. "-everyone's on edge, but of course they are, can't blame them, and the exorcists have been helping out, and it's been really-"

"Harry," Lavi interrupted, cutting off Ron's nervous and grim rambling with a start. "What's wrong? Besides the obvious?"

Ron blinked, and then seemed to realize that Lavi had apparently noticed something wrong with his best friend before he did. He looked to Harry with narrowed eyes, searching him over for any signs of something being wrong, but not finding anything.

"What do you mean, what's wrong?" He asked, bewildered, "Look around you! What makes you think anything else is wrong with him?"

"I like to think I know people pretty well," Lavi said, watching Harry carefully and saying nothing more. Ron was affronted at the insinuation that Lavi knew Harry better than he did, but Harry had to agree in this case. Who knew him better, he couldn't really say. Though he would think it would be Ron, he could see that Lavi _knew_. He knew that Harry _would_ have gone to give himself up and perhaps was more surprised that Harry had not. He knew that he hadn't because of his sense of duty. He wanted to finish off the snake. He had felt a strong urge to give the duty to somebody else, like maybe Neville, but he hadn't. It had to be him. He wanted to take it as far as he could on his own. But Lavi knew and Ron did not and perhaps it was more correct to assume that the real question was _'why did you come back _?'

"Nothing more than the obvious," he lied, knowing that Lavi knew he was lying but not caring. "I'm just... I don't know. After all of this is over, thing's will get better."

"That's right," Ron nodded in weak satisfaction, perhaps reassured in the promise of an 'after'. Lavi heard the omission though – things would be better after, but will you _be _here 'after', Lavi's face asked. Harry didn't answer.

"It's almost time," A voice said from behind him, causing him to jump. He turned sharply and found Kanda at his back, looking him over appraisingly, "You ready, kid?"

"You're only two years older than me," Harry insisted at a grumble.

"How much time left?" Lavi asked.

"Five minutes," Kanda answered. Ron gave Harry a nervous look before looking back to where his family was.

"Well, mate," He said softly, "This is the Last Stand, huh?"

"I expect so," Harry agreed just as softly. He could see the people around him getting ready to fight one last time. An odd sort of melancholy settled in him. Ron looked at him, and his expression said everything that he would not. He only smiled. He couldn't offer any reassurances or promises he hadn't already.

"You should go and see them," He added, referring to the Weasly's. "It's alright."

So Ron did after a quick look that Harry could not decipher. He watched him go and as Ron left, he was replaced by Allen, wearing the face of a soldier ready to go on fighting even if they'd lost a limb or two.

"Are you ready?" Allen asked.

"I don't think this is something I can be 'ready' for," Harry confided. They all four watched as the other witches and wizards finalized their preparations and gathered together. They had but a minute or two left.

"Do you trust me?" The question came out of the blue, but then the idea that came with it had as well. He didn't look at them directly, but he did see the startled glance that Lavi and Allen shared.

"Sure," Lavi said slowly, running a hand through his hair, "'Course we do, Harry, we do you ask?"

So Harry told them, and quietly hoped that everything went right for once.

_-*-_

"_You have decided to be foolish to the end,"_ the high, cold voice called out calmly with an undercurrent of anger. _"You have decided to try to protect the boy from me, Lord Voldemort, and for that you will all suffer. I am sure that he will enjoy seeing your deaths and pain just as much as I will which is, of course, what he wishes for since he did not save you and give himself to me. I will now enter the battle myself. Let all who see me know that they have made the wrong choice! I am the Dark Lord Voldemort; You will all die here today by my hand or by my orders."_

__--*--__

A/N: You know, I usually don't have many particularly favorite pairings – give me an engaging and realistic story, and I'll go for any pairing, even crack ones. But seriously, I've started to really like MirandaxMarie. It's cute XD Also, it's annoying when I have to write out scenes that happen in the book, but I don't want to type it out word for word and I'm sure those of you that know it don't want to read it either so I shortened it by kinda summarizing it. Even so all those Snape memories still ended up being so long D:

Also, I'm making NO promises, but if things go the way I'm thinking it will (Which is extremely liable to change, so don't hold me to it), then there is roughly three or four chapters left, then the epilogue. Oh jeez...


	48. Chapter 48

A/N: Oh hey, look at that. Only one day late this time!

Also, that whole thing with the BETA? Never mind ^^; He simply had more pressing things, and seeing as I don't think everyone wants to wait perhaps weeks for what are the _very last_ chapters, it's all good. So, there are probably more errors than usual in that it's being completed at 4:49 in the morning. Well, though that's not even unusual. That happens all the time, actually.

Also, that bit about the voice actors? I really appreciate those who did audition, but we're still looking for more people to do so, so if you're interested, take a chance and try!

__--*--__

Colin Creevey did not regret sneaking back onto Hogwarts to fight. Or, at least, that's what he kept telling himself. But after that first initial confrontation which he had just _barely_ survived, he had to admit that his nerves were shot. He was proud to fight! Nobody could tell him not to, what right did they have? He had come, proud and excited and determined.

Except war wasn't as glorious as he'd thought it'd be.

Certainly he hadn't thought it would be rainbows and roses, but he'd been focused on the fact that war with Voldemort had come at last, and that Hogwarts needed all the help it could get to protect it and to bring down the Dark Lord. He hadn't really imagined that he would nearly get crushed by a giant falling stone that seemed to come from the direction of one of the towers, which was now half demolished. He didn't think he would get in the way, either, or that he would develop gashes that would turn to scars, or that he would be cut and shoved and bruised until he could barely stand. He hadn't thought of just how _painful_ war could be.

Now they were headed off into what was, most certainly, the very last battle, and perhaps the last battle that he would ever see.

And he was afraid.

Would he see the light of the sun again? Would the darkness around him be the last thing he saw? Would he see his little brother, or ever graduate, or prove that he was more useful than everyone thought he was?

He was Gryffindor, he kept telling himself, and Gryffindor's don't run away. So he stayed, and he gather his Lion's courage, and he reminded himself that he'd _chosen_ to come, that it was _his_ choice to be here, and that he was proud to have made the _right_ choice.

Then the Death Eaters had emerged from the Forbidden Forest, wands blazing, and he could have sworn that at that moment, his vision zoomed in and he saw the skull masks in close detail, some hanging in the air where there was no body, and he shook his head. His vision cleared, but he was sweating horribly.

Then the akuma emerged too, grotesque and horrible, and the exorcists seemed to fly forward at impossible speeds.

The battle started with a bang, but there was no glory, it was not like one of those beautiful paintings around the castle that showed victory, or bravery, or valiant defiance. All Colin saw was death and blood.

He shot off a jinx aimed at a Death Eater that had made it deep into the crowd, but his hand shook so much that it veered off into the darkness, thankfully not hitting an ally instead. It caught the other's attention, though, and he froze when he saw the bright green light flashing towards him, bringing death, promising it.

Another flash of green and the spell bounced right back, colliding with the Death Eater's chest and rendering them dead instantly. For a moment Colin was confused – that curse could _not_ be redirected or reflected, that was just how things were. He looked back slowly, and it was a scene he would remember vividly.

The one who had saved him was an exorcist. He was big, tall, Asian, and mean looking – pretty much the type that Colin neither liked, nor got along well with. The other made an impressive sight though, wielding his sword like some kind of myth or legend, reflecting another spell as it came at him.

"What are you doing?!" The other snarled, and the next thing he knew, he was eating dirt almost literally. Moments later, he felt the hand from the back of his head lift and he saw a violent looking red spell fly away from where his head had been. He looked and found the other already jumping up, growling, "_This_ is why I hate short little troublesome guys, always in the _way_-"

The man grabbed him by the back of his shirt, leaping away from a missile that promptly exploded where his body had been. He was dumped back on the ground harshly, and he thought distantly that one of his teeth had been knocked out.

"Don't just lay there, you idiot!" The other snapped, and a boot nudged his side, "_I_ don't care if you die, but I'm guessing that's not what _you_ intended."

Because he was right, Colin began to struggle up with newfound energy. He was still frightened to an extreme, but all he could do was fight and try to accomplish _something_. He hand shook much less when he shot off another spell, and he even managed to hit a Death Eater, even if it wasn't the one he'd intended to hit. He was distantly aware that the other glanced in his direction before dodging a spell, doing some kind of dramatic back-flip that he privately thought wasn't fair.

He could do this. He could fight. And he could bloody well be useful.

_-*-_

Padma hadn't been in Dumbledore's Army for nothing. The proof of it was right here – while most other students moaned and groaned about not being taught correctly, or about not wanting to do the work, they had been training for this very thing. A fight, a war, against none other than Voldemort. Some thought them stupid, but there was an obvious improvement in skill in those who were apart of Dumbledore's Army. She could see it in their movements whenever she did see someone else. She was prouder than ever at the moment to have been apart of it. She knew her sister felt the same way; Parvati was never far away, and they guarded each other's backs seriously.

She was dueling Agustus Rookwood with Parvati's help. They had lost Lavender Brown a while ago and had not seen her since. It wasn't for a lack of trying, for Parvati had tried searching as much as she could, growing fearful for her best friend, but everywhere they turned there was another enemy to be brought down, and they hadn't seen hide nor hair of the other.

She saved her sister from tripping over a large piece of rubble by grabbing her elbow and yanking her upright, but that moment almost got them caught. It was only because they had jumped aside that the Killing Curse missed them, and then they were trying franticly to keep up. Their rhythm had been broken and it was extremely hard to catch up again in the middle of a life and death fight.

It was also hard not to get distracted by other people's duels or fights. It was honestly more of a problem for her sister than for her. She was good at keeping focus.

Though she didn't blame herself for loosing it completely when a large boulder flew over from off on the side, almost bowling over Agustus. It managed to clip his shoulder, sending him to the ground with the force of it, his new wound already bleeding heavily. She was completely startled when a young man stumbled in after the boulder, looking around before his gaze settled on them, then glancing back and forth between them and the Death Eater.

"I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, his voice carrying a bit of an accent, "I really need to look where I'm throwing things, I just didn't see you, are you alright, can I-"

She didn't see what did it, but in the next moment he'd been pulling to the ground by something invisible, the spell from the Death Eater flying over him.

"Eii!" He screeched before hitting the ground. She could feel her sister's confusion heightening just like her own. She recognized the man, vaguely, as one of those 'exorcist' people, but he didn't fit the image she'd had of them at all.

"You're all freaks!" Agustus yelled as he sent a curse towards the exorcist before swinging around and casting one off at Padma. She was startled, and she had to admit, a bit ashamed. She should have been able to get herself together faster than that. Instead, she stood there perhaps a little dumbly.

She didn't see her life flash before her eyes, but she did hear Parvati scream her name. It sounded further away than she really was.

She managed to move only then, trying to drop all her weight so that she'd move out of the way to the side faster. She didn't know if she would have been able to dodge it. She didn't know if it would have hit her or not, because in the next moment she saw the slightest glint before the spell itself seemed to cleave itself in half and fizzle out before it even reached her.

For a moment she strained her eyes to make it out, but then she saw it. It was some kind of _string_ or _wire_ that stretched not once, not twice, but multiple times in front of her. In the next second, they moved, drawing back with the sound of rope being coiled too fast.

"Choaji," A voice said with the slightest touch of exasperation, "You can see how that would have turned out, can't you?"

A very large man stepped up beside the first, his hand at his ear on top of some headphones. He knelt down, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at the other man, who began pushing himself up with a sheepish expression,

"I'm sorry," Choaji said in honest guilt, "I thought maybe I'd accidentally hit somebody I shouldn't have, and I just wanted to make sure they were alright..."

"That's fine," The other replied, reaching out to grasp Choaji's shoulder and help him up, "But remember – Distraction can lead to death, and not just yours."

"Yes," Choaji nodded slightly with a downcast look before smiling widely, "I'm so glad you're the one helping me, Marie. I think Kanda would have killed me by now..."

"Ah," Marie tilted his head to the side in amusement, "I don't know about that... he just gets a little... carried away, sometimes."

Then he turned to the twins with another gentle smile,

"Are you alright?" He asked in concern. They realized about then that it was a good question, and weren't they just fighting for their life? Looking, they found the Death Eater bound by the same wires as before.

Padma wasn't exactly in the condition to answer at the moment, and Parvati was just as out of it. Instead, they nodded in tandem. Because they had been blatantly staring, they saw the way the man's face morphed into shock before spinning towards the castle.

"Miranda!"

It was just as the very side of it exploded. The shrapnel and flying debris was dangerous. Padma heard several cries and shouts of surprise and maybe pain. Her eyes widened as the dust cleared and she got a good view of the damage.

The whole side of the wall that lead into the Great Hall was gone. Inside was plain as day. She could see expressions of shock and fear from where she stood.

And then huge green vines seemed to stretch and grow out of nowhere, covering the hole until the other side probably couldn't even see and light from out here. She blinked, startled, feeling Parvati when she grasped her arm tightly.

"Master's so fast!" Choaji exclaimed in awe. Marie let out a large sigh of relief.

"He really is," He agreed.

Padma slowly shook her head. She had no idea how these exorcists worked, and she didn't even understand _what_ it was they did, really. But she was sure of one thing.

She was glad they were on her side.

_-*-_

Luna Lovegood was one of those people that most naturally underestimated. She didn't mind at all – preferred it actually, even though it used to be a little insulting. If she had let those kinds of things get to her, she'd have conformed a long time ago. As it was, the insults and spells other people threw at her, Death Eater or not, had little to no effect on her.

She danced; not because she was graceful or because so was just that skilled, but because she wanted to. So twirled as if she had a partner, dipping herself as if someone else had done it for her just as a spell soared over her head. She wore a distantly interested frown as she sent spells of her own, her aim impeccable. She also paid special attention to her own allies. Most people looked over that kind of thing, too focused on doing damage against the opposing forces, but not her.

She'd un-stupefied a few people, staunched some bleeding, shielded several people from flying debris and rocks and boulders that seemed entirely illogical when the battle was one of magic.

She _liked_ the exorcists and their way of fighting. And they even listened to her. Allen and Lavi had been most accommodating back at Shell Cottage, and despite initial impressions, Kanda hadn't burst out with particularly rude or violent words toward her either. They _listened_ and they had the most fascinating weapons. Nobody really _understood_ what Innocence itself was, and it was amazing. She'd also thought about the lives the exorcists lived.

They were just so fascinating.

So sometimes she fit in a twirl that she'd seen the girl with the glowing boots did, or swing her wand with slashes as if she had a sword, or move as if she payed an invisible piano, playing to a melody only she could hear.

Nobody gave her so much as a backwards glance, not here on the battlefield. The Death Eaters were fierce but she was calm. She balanced them out, feeling both a strange kind of pride in being here and a solid determination that she didn't think could be shaken.

Even when she was hit by a spell she hadn't even seen. Even when she blinked as ropes curled around her shoulders and legs. She hit the ground, completely immobilized, but her heart didn't so much as speed up. She looked up at the face of a Death Eater she didn't recognize, and smiled,

"Why, hello," She greeted, finding that no, she couldn't so much as twitch her wand. When the other shook their head at her, she replied, "That's not very polite, you know. Proper etiquette dictates that you should play with you food before you eat it."

"If you want to die so badly..." The other shrugged and lifted up their wand, and Luna sighed slightly. Death didn't frighten her. She was proud, her determination still not shaken, knowing only that she would die for her cause.

Then streaks of silver rained down from the sky and she blinked as the Death Eater yelped and stumbled backwards, right into the line of fire of an unknown spell. He began choking, reaching up to grasp at his throat in distress. He was dead within seconds.

"Fool," A voice scoffed. She turned her head to see a short old man with the strangest hairstyle yet.

"Hello," She greeted, her eyes lighting up as she spotting the other's badge, "Oh! You're an exorcist? Wonderful!"

"Don't move," He warned her, and she got the impression that he in fact expected her to, particularly when he held up dozens of silvery needles. She didn't even twitch as they shot out towards her, cutting the ropes with ease so that they fell around her. Not even one so much as brushed her skin.

"You're very skillful with those," She complimented as she sat up and shook the remains of the rope off of her.

"I'm not like you foolish children," He replied with a sniff, "I've had _years_ of experience, I know what I can do, and I can certainly do it better."

"Yes," She agreed with a dreamy smile, "I imagine you must be if you've been at this for so long."

"I am - what?" He paused and looked at her, and she frowned because she'd hoped he hadn't been the type to stop in his tracks and give her that look. He blinked at her, then nodded firmly, "Of course. It's about time another child learned how to respect their elders."

"Old people are important," She answered solemnly.

"Old-I'm not-How dare-Old?!" His disjointed ramblings came to an incredulous stop.

"I'm sorry," She blinked and sized him up, "Are you younger than you look?"

He sputtered, his face going red, before he grumbled as he gathered his needles.

"Watch yourself, girl," He warned her just before he turned to leave. She appreciated the warning. It was just as he turned to leave, though, that a great flash of light and an equally great trembling of the Earth started. There were cries of shock and fear, and some general confusion as people began to part as if to flee something. She knew that it could only be one thing.

Voldemort had finally stepped onto the stage.

_-*-_

Harry knew the exact moment that his enemy was near. His scar, always twinging in discomfort, seemed to become filled with flames and molten lava, boiling over to stretch across the rest of his forehead. He didn't immediately go to seek the Dark Lord out – he couldn't, not yet. Instead, he waited, just out of reach, just out of sight.

His invisibility was a great help to him in hiding from everyone. Nobody could see through it, and even though it was pretty awkward, he didn't have to worry about someone running into him either, since they would go right through him instead. It was a strange feeling. It gave a bigger weight towards the experience of what it might be like to be a ghost that nobody notices.

In his invisibility and intangibility, he was untouchable. He was practically unbeatable too, when he was against only other wizards. He'd still not come across any spell that could either affect, nor track him in this state. So he concentrated not on taking down Death Eaters, but on protecting his allies. He'd had practice in protecting the other exorcists, and so he was even better at it than he would have hoped he could be one year ago. He threw around shields and only sometimes, offensive spells to knock aside any Death Eaters that were too close to a victory.

He was sure that without he and the exorcists here, this war would have fallen through very quickly. There was just too high a number against them. But with the almost supernatural abilities of the exorcists, they made it possible to win, not only because they did their best to take out every single akuma, but because they helped against the Death Eater's too.

He'd noticed that none of them actually killed any of the Death Eaters directly. It was always restraining and knocking them unconscious instead. That they helped at all, though, was a huge improvement. He'd seen Marie and Chaoji not that long ago help out Padma and Parvati. He'd also not been that far away when Kanda had saved Colin Creevey's life. Several times, in fact, though the other boy was probably only aware of the first time.

When his alloted time was up, he took a deep breath and readied himself. He didn't feel nervous – far from it, actually. He was calm, ready, and determined. He had a flimsy plan that was very simple but based on a lot of 'what ifs'. It rode mostly on the trust he had on the exorcists, as well as whatever variabilities there were in Innocence. Because nobody knew exactly how Innocence and magic reacted, as it had already been proven that as far as they knew, it was completely unpredictable, the plan was even more risky and perhaps foolish. He didn't mind.

Even if he failed in it, his original purpose would still very much be fulfilled.

The huge flash of green light and the trembling of the Earth was his cue that Voldemort was out of patience. A little unsettled and wondered with a strange sort of detachment who had died time time, he wade through the bodies around him that had both tried moving away and pressing closer.

Voldemort was there, his face cold with an undercurrent of rage. Harry almost, _almost_, smiled. He settled on a calm mask instead, though in all honesty, it wasn't even really a mask. The intense calm he felt was very much real, though he didn't really understand where, exactly, it all came from.

He rounded the other, moving quickly, silently. The people around him were so frightened, even the Death Eaters. Harry didn't think the other intentionally aimed at the Death Eaters at all, but when one of his wild curses hit one, he didn't seem at all annoyed or disappointed.

"You know, you're acting like a child!" He called over all the noise. It was as if his voice was carried above it all, heard by all as if he spoke in their ear. "Throwing temper tantrums just because you didn't get what you want!"

"Potter!" Voldemort snarled in anger, spinning around and shooting off a few random Killing Curses that most people were thankfully aware enough to dodge. "I know you are there! Hiding already?!"

"Hiding? From you? Never," Harry could hear the mocking in his own voice even as he let the invisibility fade. He'd been standing right in the midst of several people he only distantly recognized. That he, of all people, suddenly appeared was enough to make one girl give a short shriek and them all to begin to frantically move away from him. It didn't bother him in the least, though the shriek was slightly annoying in that it gave away his position immediately instead of letting the Dark Lord spin around a little more. He could think of several insulting things to say to that, actually, all things that either Kanda or Malfoy might say, but he kept them to himself.

"How foolish!" Voldemort cried as he did indeed spot him immediately and leveled his wand at him, "that you so readily come out of hiding! Do you wish for a duel with me? Do you think you can win?"

"Well, that depends on how you look at it," Harry answered as he became aware of any and all dueling around him coming to a stop as all attention focused on them, "Because you know, the way _I_ look at it, you've already lost, _Tom_."

"Oh?" The other didn't rise to the bait like he had hoped, "Is _that_ what you think? And what, pray tell, makes you think that? Was is Dumbledore? Did he put some nonsense into your head? No, silly me, of course that is it. After all, he's the one that sent one petty boy off to 'save the world', isn't that right?"

"Whatever Dumbledore said, whatever he wanted me to do," Harry answered evasively, "doesn't matter, because you've already lost. I know a lot of things you don't."

"Is that why you think you can win? Because you know more than I, Lord Voldemort, knows?"

"No."

"Then what is it?!" It was the first sign of true impatience and rage that Voldemort had _really_ shown. He jerked his wand angrily, motioning toward Harry with narrowed eyes.

"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" Harry asked, and though he didn't smile or laugh, his eyes did, "You'd love to know, and it scares you that you don't, right?-"

"_Nothing_ scares Lord Voldemort!" The Dark Lord crowed, "I fear _Nothing_!"

"Yeah, that's a pretty apt description," Harry agreed, "You fear becoming nothing, being nothing, not existing and not knowing. You're not any different than any other man – you're still afraid of death, afraid of it because you can't understand it and don't know what happens afterward and because you don't want to be forgotten."

"What nonsense is this?" The other laughed at him as faces stared attentively, "I do not fear Death, for I have conquered it! I did not die even when struck with the Killing Curse, did not die even when I had no body!"

"And I know why," Harry shook his head minutely as he subtlety shoved his wand up his sleeve to leave his hands free. "But you won't be able to rely on that method anymore. It's gone you know – not it's just you and me."

"Impossible!" The other shrieked, losing his cool for just a second at the quiet threat that his snake had been killed without his knowledge. He had protected it and kept it nearby at all times except now, and now it was carefully hidden and still yet more protected.

"'It's too well protected', and 'I would know', that's what you're thinking, right?" Harry shrugged, "'There's no way he got to it'."

He saw it then, the slightest glimmer that rose above the crowd of two different armies, and he felt his heart lift in his first sign of anxiety. He shook it away as he looked into the red eyes not all that far from him, feeling a chilly sort of satisfaction descend on him as he spoke again,

"And you know something...? You're right. I haven't killed Nagini," He watched the red eyes widen in rage and even more confusion, "Not yet."

And then the sound of a loud shout as a glowing ball of blue, crackling and spitting, flew over the many heads around him. Inside was Nagini, twisting in agitation, hissing confused and angry curses that Harry understood and ignored.

"No!" Voldemort screamed, his voice high with the kind of violent rage and disbelief the likes of which Harry didn't think he'd even heard before.

He could see the other raising his wand from the corner of his eye, but he was only concerned with the large ball of magical protection spells headed his way, carrying in it the one thing he had to destroy before he died.

It landed just a few feet in front of him, the ground cracking under it though he didn't know exactly why. It was not extremely heavy, or at least he didn't think so, but he guessed it had something to do with the spells being so strong.

It was just as it landed that he lunged forward, his hand grasping the hilt of the sword that had become so familiar and comforting. He withdrew it with a steady hiss, aiming and then jabbing just the way he'd been taught to. A bright green spell his the ground where he'd been standing not even a second before.

The tip of the blade met the glowing blue magic as if it'd been thrown against and iron wall. One that crackled as if with electricity, sputtering and hissing at him.

"It's impossible!" Voldemort yelled at him, "You can't break through that, I _made sure of it_, Potter!"

Harry turned his head and their eyes met. Green met red, and then he smirked.

He spun, a move he'd actually practiced several times, inwardly feeling his hopes ride to the surface. He put out his left forearm as he did, calling up the protective, gentle feeling the Innocence always cloaked him in seconds before the invisibility kicked in.

He met resistance for only a split second before his firearm began to slide in. The Innocence was canceling out the effects of the magical protection, and the snake inside rose up threateningly, ready to strike out.

It all really happened at once. One moment he was fighting his way into the sphere, the next he had slipped inside and had spun again, the sword which he'd pulled inside the effect of the Innocence out and whistling through the air.

The head of Nagini did not fly off into the distance, or even roll away. The blue sphere prohibited it from leaving. Instead, it hit the side of the sphere with a sort of sickening squelch, and Harry and all of the whole audience watched as the great snake's body wavered for a moment, sliding back and forth at it's sudden loss of a head, before hitting the ground. It did not move.

The shriek of the purest rage rang through the air. It did not sound human. Harry knew only a sick satisfaction that his purpose was almost done. He almost contemplated staying in the sphere, where Voldemort could not attack him, but the idea was banished immediately.

Indeed, within seconds the glittering cage was gone into nothing and he heard Voldemort shriek his name.

He tilted his head to the side as the other drew his wand up violently, perhaps after having been lowered in disbelief, and Harry took a step forward as if he could not wait any longer for what was to come. He had sheathed his sword by the time the incantation was completed, and he watched in slow motion as the Killing Curse cut through the air toward him.

It was alright, he thought, he'd done everything he'd been meant to. Sure, there were plenty of things he would have still _liked_ to do before he died, but he supposed that beggars really couldn't be choosers. His days had _always_ been numbered, he was simply seeing the last number turn into zero.

He had no regrets.

Then it hit him, though he felt absolutely nothing, and his last thought was wondering if Innocence could block the Killing Curse as well, if he'd tried to do so.

Then all went black.

__--*--__

A/N: Huh. I didn't like the scene with Padma and Parvati. Oh well. The rest was okay, I think. Just think... two or three more to go.... D: XD

Has everyone else been getting lots of snow? It kinda sucks in that my district had two snow days on days that my school didn't even have session. Totally wasted D:

Also, anyone notice that even though the author of Harry Potter has so many characters apparently created pretty thoroughly, there's so few actually known Death Eaters, even though they keep crawling out of the woodworks? The same for Hogwarts students – for a humongous castle like Hogwarts and what would hint at having nearly 1000 or at least 6 or 7 hundred students, there's only like forty of something for Harry's whole year?

Reviews? We're almost at that 1000 mark! (Can you believe that 0.o?!) It'd be great if we got there before the end of this story.


	49. Chapter 49

A/N: So sorry! For some reason, school has decided to be especially difficult lately. On Friday, I had two homework assignments, a binder check, a huge quiz, and an even bigger project (Which we only got to work on two days in school, and it's large, complicated, and not something I understood completely). Oh, and that's only the stuff due for that one class D: The teacher for that class has been really not helpful lately too. She keeps saying 'look at your notes!' and not helping me when I say its the notes I don't get. Plus it's Pre-Calculus! All of you that take higher math classes, I bow down before you ^^;

__--*--__

He knew that he still existed, still had a sense of self if not of life because he could feel the surface he laid against, and his thoughts, though slightly slower than normal, was still very much there. He did not _feel_ dead, but then, he'd never done it before so he did not know what death was _suppose_ to feel like. He knew only that he was somewhere, somewhere solid and that... he was naked?

He came to this realization, a bit startled. He felt alone – he thought that he much be the only person here. It was a belief that seemed almost irrational because he had no proof that he was the only one here – where ever 'here' was. He couldn't help but think of all those other times he'd thought he was alone only for it to be proven false, and so he opened his eyes.

Thankfully yes, his eyes existed as well, and he blinked wearily up at what he thought was mist. It wasn't something that clouded his vision or made it hard to see, so much as if it seemed liked his surroundings _was_ the mist, and that some floated around because it had not formed into something else yet.

He had no glasses, but could see just fine. His clothes were still mysteriously absent, which allowed him to see that his body was unmarked. There was nothing to proclaim that he'd just been hit by the Killing Curse. Again. Even the scars and little nicks he'd had before were gone.

Then he heard a sound which at once became alarming. The sound itself was not, but that something had to be there to _make_ the noise was. He was tired, resigned, though at the moment he was only aware and calm and blank. He was not afraid that something was there to hurt him, not afraid that there might be something else to fight against. It was a pitiful sound, but also indecent. It was something that flapped, flailed, and struggled, and he felt as if he were the intruder here.

He pulled his knees up just as he wished that he had clothes to wear, feeling slightly exposed. Just as he thought this, a pile of robes appeared not that far from him, and he blinked in surprise. When he reached them, he found that they were warm, real, solid. They were soft and clean, and he welcomed them.

He stood, looking around as he did so. His surroundings were huge, bigger than the Great Hall, probably bigger than the dining hall at the Black Order. It was all white, the ceiling a dome of glass that let glittered light fall on him. He seemed to be the only person there, but he could still hear that noise, thumping around, and then he spotted the source.

He almost recoiled. It was a small, naked child, its skin raw and rough, flayed-looking. It was trembling from under the seat where it had been abandoned, unwanted.

It caused an irrational fear in him. It shifted through him, making him halt and freeze. He wanted to comfort it, help it, knew that he should. But he couldn't bring himself to, as pathetic and sad as the sight of it was. He forced himself to go nearer, nearer and nearer, until he was in arms reach and he was fighting with this fear that he didn't understand. It repulsed him, and he did not know why. Just as he stretched out a hand, a voice cut through,

"You cannot help."

He had thought he was the only one here. He had been proven wrong when he'd seen this child, but he'd been prepared for that. It had slipped his mind that yet another person could be here, as empty as the place had seemed before. He felt slightly irritated, but it slipped away when he saw who, exactly was making his way over.

It was Albus Dumbledore, wearing sweeping robes of midnight blue and standing tall, upright, and even proud.

"Harry." The old man opened his arms wide, revealing that both his hands were whole, undamaged, and white. "You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk."

Feeling wholly stunned, Harry followed silently. He was led to a pair of chairs he hadn't really noticed before, too caught up in the sight of that deformed child. He barely stopped himself from collapsing into it, though he didn't know why. He had nobody to impress here, and for no reason.

The face of his old Headmaster was the same as ever. It was just as he remembered, old and wise and kind. He could remember all the long road he'd walked, paved with uncertainty and disbelief and distrust towards this very person. Mostly, he'd tried to ignore every single little detail that said that Dumbledore was not the man he'd though he was. Harry had pretended it didn't matter, that he had more important things to think and do, but the truth was that it was on his mind often. He didn't know what to think, now. He didn't know how to react, either, but he settled with the obvious first.

"You're dead," It was a statement, not a question.

"Indeed," Dumbledore answered instantly, as if this was a very normal thing to talk about.

"So I must be too," Harry looked closely at the other, thinking perhaps this wasn't really happening, that if he could find just one little detail that didn't belong, he would have proof.

"So quick to jump to conclusions," The other smiled broadly, "Really, that is up to you. I however, believe not."

"I don't understand," He shook his head, "I'm not dead?"

"Not dead."

"But..." He touched his scar, only to find that it was not there, "I _meant_ to die. That curse did hit me – I _should_ be dead."

"That you didn't defend yourself," Dumbledore replied gently, "Will make all the difference."

Harry had never seen his Headmaster so happy. It seemed to balance out his own frustration and confusion. He had been in so many near-death situations before, and now, when he literally jumped in front of a Killing Curse _intending_ to die, he still could not?

"Explain," He said.

"But you already know," The other was twiddling his thumbs, radiating happiness.

"I let him kill me, right?"

"That's right, go on!"

"So..." Harry thought hard, his mind churning, and he looked up slowly as he said, "So, then the part of him that was in me... was killed instead?"

"Yes!" Dumbledore nodded enthusiastically, his smile encouraging, "Yes, he destroyed it instead of you, Harry. You soul is unharmed an now all your own."

But did that matter? It was nice, knowing that he was free of Voldemort, but would he ever enjoy that freedom?

The thumps from that strange creature drew his attention, and he looked back at it. Out of curiosity and pity, he asked,

"What is that, Professor?"

"something that is beyond either of our help."

"But... If Voldemort used the Killing Curse," Harry frowned as he turned back to their previous conversation, "How am I still alive? Nobody died for me this time."

"I think you already know. Think back. Remember what he did, in his ignorance, in his greed and his cruelty."

He did not immediately know, and had to admit, did not being guided like this much. He only wanted the answers. As much as he felt bad for distrusting Dumbledore, especially now that he was here now, the fact remains that many things had been kept from him. He wanted to hear the answers straight from the older man, and not be lead to answers that may or may not be wholly correct. However, after a moment, his guilt increased at these thoughts, and as he looked around, the answer came to him,

"My blood. He took my blood."

"Precisely!" The other exclaimed, "He took our blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!"

"I live while he lives?" Harry shook his head slowly, "But... that's not how the prophecy goes... Or is it the same thing, me living while he lives and both of us dying?"

The thumping from that creature was again distracting, but this time, he managed to ignore it to focus on the present matters more. He looked up at the other, hoping for more answers. And answers he did receive.

"You were the seventh Horcrux, Harry, the Horcrux that he never meant to make. He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart when he committed those acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of your parents, the attempted killing of a child. But what escaped from that room was even less than he knew. He left more than his body behind. He left part of himself latched to you, the would-be victim who had survived."

He nodded, this information being something that he had partially guessed for himself. He felt no real satisfaction from being right. It was not a truth that he wanted to know, not if it was not necessary.

He listened to the other's description and explanation of Voldemort, listened as he learned that it was Lily's sacrifice that once again saved him. All through it, he couldn't help but to stare at the other, and when he finally fell silent, Harry asked,

"And... You knew? You knew it all, all along?"

"I guessed," Dumbledore smiled, "But my guesses are usually good."

Silence descended in earnest then, and Harry felt almost as if the silence was alright, was almost pleasant. He waited, and he thought, and he tried to understand without words. In the end, he ended up saying,

"Where are we?"

"I was actually going to ask you that," Dumbledore replied, "Where would you say that we are?"

Harry looked, and though he hadn't completely recognized the place before, he thought he could now that his other distractions were mostly gone and he could look for familiarities.

"It looks... like King's Cross station. Except, different in that it's cleaner and nobody else is here. No trains either."

"King's Cross station!" The other chuckled, "Good gracious, really?"

"Well, what do you think then?"

"My dear boy, I have no idea. This is, as they say, _your_ party."

Once again, a hint of that old Dumbledore that Harry remembered, and it was a part of him that he had never really liked. It was as if the other _liked_ being infuriating.

"The Deathly Hallows," He said then, and he was watching so he got to see the smile disappear from the other's face very quickly.

"Ah, yes," The other even looked worried.

"Well?" It sounded a little more demanding than he would have liked, but he didn't want the older man to get back into his habit f skipping th details and being, once again, infuriating. He only felt a little bit of guilt as he watched the other's face become drawn, like a child caught doing something they shouldn't be doing.

"Can you forgive me?" Dumbledore asked, "Can you forgive me for not trusting you? For not telling you? Harry, I only feared that you would fail as I had failed. I only dreaded that you would make my mistakes. I crave your pardon, Harry. I have known, for some time now, that you are the better man."

Harry was confused, of course, and he wasn't sure what the other meant by this. He latched onto the word 'mistakes' and said,

"But you never told me. I was so close to going after the Hallows instead, and you never told me not to, so how was I suppose to know? Plus it seemed like you were leaving clues, so it was like your words against your actions."

"I know," Dumbledore appeared miserable, shaking his head, "I can only say that I am sorry. The Hallows – they are a desperate man's dream."

"Dream? But they're real! I don't understand."

"Yes, real, and very dangerous. They are a lure for fools," The old wizard looked away, "And I was such a fool. But you know, don't you?"

He didn't know what he was suppose to know. He did know, however, that he was very confused.

"What is it I'm suppose to know?"

"Master of Death, Harry, master of Death!" Dumbledore's eyelashes were sparkling with tears, "Was I better, ultimately, than Voldemort?"

Harry blinked, for even if he was upset or annoyed by the other, there was no way that he was worse than Voldemort. Nobody was worse than Voldemort.

"Of course you were," He replied firmly, "You're nowhere near him. You never killed, not unless you couldn't avoid it."

"True, true," The other now looked like a child looking for reassurances, and Harry, though he felt bad for the other especially about the things he had learned, he did not think now was the time to ask for reassurances. Not from him, not from the one he'd kept secrets from and made things so hard for. "Yet I too sought a way to conquer death, Harry."

"So?" He frowned slightly, "Just because you tried doing that doesn't make you like him. You didn't do it the same way. Hallows, not Horcruxes."

"Hallows. Not Horcruxes. Precisely."

The creature whimpered behind them, but Harry didn't feel the need to look anymore. It didn't bother him, even, and he then asked,

"Grindelwald was looking for them too?"

It was so. He listened as Dumbledore confirmed it, admitting that it was that even, that drew them together the most. There was even the fact that Grindelwald wanted to visit Godric's Hollow to see the grave of Ignotus Peverell, to see the place that the third brother had died. He learned that yes, that whole story was true as well, though Dumbledore did say,

"Whether they met Death on a lonely road or not, I cannot say. At one point, I had believed that it was more probable that the Peverell brothers were simply skilled wizards who created those powerful objects. Then, however, I learned about the Innocence inside them..."

"So all three of them hold Innocence in them?" He asked, startled and also slightly relieved. He knew that three whole pieces of Innocence could be a big help towards the Black Order, "But then, why can I use them? The cloak _and_ the stone? And how did you learn about that?"

"I would never have known," Dumbledore explained solemnly, "Had it not been for a red haired man who came to see me. He was a very mysterious and interesting man. He wielded a magic I have not heard of in many, many long years, for he was not a wizard, but a sorcerer. He came to me discreetly, for a very short meeting not that long before the Death Eater's came to Hogwarts last year. He told me about the Innocence in the wand, and I had expected, after he told me a little about himself and his job, to try to take the wand by force. Imagine my surprise when he did not, and instead left with the promise that I would give the wand to his Order soon, and he gave me information about that Order. I imagine he told them where I was and what the Innocence was, so that they could come if I did not deliver on my promise."

"That..." Harry blinked a few times, startled, "That... sounds a lot like Allen's master... I think his name was Cross?"

"Yes, that was his name," The other nodded, "I heard what happened to him. Give my condolences to young mister Walker when you see him again, will you?"

"Um, sure," He furrowed his eyebrows as he briefly wondered at how confident the other was that there would be a next time, "And what about how I can use the Innocence, even though I shouldn't be able to? At least, not two at a time?"

"I do not know if, perhaps, the brothers were exorcists themselves or just scientists, but I believe they did put the Innocence there themselves. As for why they reacted the way they did, I cannot say. After all, when not even scientists that are experts at Innocence truly understand it, I cannot fathom that anybody would understand how it would work with magic. The best guess that I can make is that the magical properties of, say your cloak, suppressed the Innocence until it did not work entirely correctly, while still lending some power to it.

"Your cloak, as you know now, traveled down through the ages, father to son, mother to daughter, right down to Ignotus's last living descendant, who was born, as Ignotus was, in the village of Godric's Hollow. My guess is that that Innocence, while it could not synchronize with a person correctly, it would only recognize a descendant of Ignotus as it's wielder, because it had been passed down among family. And that person..."

"Is me?" Harry asked when he saw the smile directed at him.

"Is you," The other agreed, "It would not work properly for me, not any more than the strong power it has as an invisibility cloak. However, I could find in it the same anomaly in it as I could with the wand. The stone proved to have it as well. Knowing that Innocence only had one master at a time made this understandable. I don't know what the trigger is for the other two – I imagine that the Innocence in the wand will only recognize the strongest, and so it's allegiance would change depending on who wins in a duel. That explains the unusualness of it's nature, in that it can change owners so completely. As for the stone, I do not know.

"You probably have guessed, now, why the cloak was in my possession on the night your parents died."

Harry looked over as he heard this, and listened to Dumbledore's bitterness as he added in that he had finally gained two Hallow's all to himself, at the price of his parents life.

He almost reassured the other, claiming the cloak would not have made them curse-proof, but then realized that yes it would have. It would have, for all curses except the Killing Curse, and there was a good chance that would have been bounced off too. Silence fell again when he did not say anything, not really knowing what to say to that kind of thing.

"So you'd given up looking for the Hallows when you saw the cloak?" He asked to keep the conversation going.

Now he listened as he heard Dumbledore's account of what happened. Listened to the other admit that everything written in Skeeter's book was, for once, completely true. From his poor father, his mother, and his sick sister. About how he hated it, how he had believed himself so much better, so much smarter, more powerful, more gifted. How he had not wanted to lead the family, how he had believed he was destined for greater things and the dreams and visions that both he and Grindelwald had seen. Young leaders of a revolution, of power and victory over Muggles, and forcing said Muggles into sub service.

It was all things Harry had never thought he'd hear come from the others mouth. All those years that had gone by, if he had heard rumors of this sort then, he would have been furious and shocked at the audacity of other to make up such lies, for surely they were not true. Now though, he was hearing it all from the other's mouth himself.

He listened to how Dumbledore had soothed any guilt he may have had, telling himself it was all for the greater good. About how he and Grindelwald had worked together, making plans and looking obsessively for the Deathly Hallows. About how the fight that had taken Ariana's life had started and ended, and how he feared, more than anything, learning just who's spell had done the dark deed. So scared, that when years passed and Grindelwald became more and more dangerous, he had put off the duel for fear of learning that truth. About how he believed he had proven he was not to be trusted with power, and that was why he had refused the position of Minister of Magic numerous times.

He did win that duel, though, and the story tapered off, and silence fell yet again. It did explain what he had seen in the mirror of Erised and why he had been so understanding of Harry's own fascination with it. Harry looked down at his hands with mixed feelings, not sure what to think but knowing that a great deal of his anger, frustration, and irritation had faded away. It was not all gone, he had to admit, there was still a nice spark there somewhere, waiting and always there. Eventually, Harry spoke, though it was something that he said before thinking, feeling his shoulders slump,

"Why did you make it so difficult?"

A had landed on his shoulder, and he looked to see Dumbledore's tremulous smile.

"I must profess, Harry, that there is very little that worked out how I had planned it," Dumbledore shook his own head, his smile never lessening, "I did not visit the Black Order or learn about akuma and more about exorcists and Innocence until just before my own death. I hoped only that the exorcists would protect you from external forces and that they could, if you were so willing, collect the Innocence in repayment. I never imagined that there would be so much interference from the akuma or what they call 'Noah.' I apologize – I've come to suspect that had I taken a different route and led them, perhaps, to the Innocence only after you had done what you needed to do, then I think there would not have been any akuma or Noah in your way."

Harry looked down, wondering how he felt about that. Part of him wished that it had been that way, that there had been no akuma or Noah, but if it had been so, then he never would have met the exorcists. He honestly did not know how, but they had become important to him. Maybe it was because of the dangerous lives they had lead together, or the bond of knowing they were the only ones in the world that were able to rid it of a great evil, or the several near-death experiences they shared together, or maybe it was simply the fun times they had had. It could be many different things, or all of them, but he had found a second home in the Black Order, and people who understood him in a way that Ron and Hermione could never really hope to. He didn't regret meeting them, and thought perhaps the whole thing was even worth it, maybe.

Either way, things could not be changed. The past was the past. That was, actually, something Lavi had taught him.

"I had counted on, originally, Mis Granger to slow you up, Harry," Dumbledore added then, "I was afraid that your hot head might dominate your good heart. I was scared that, if presented outright with the facts about those tempting objects, you might seize the Hallows as I did, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. However, nothing had turned out like I had expected. You went through so much hardship, Harry, that is entirely my fault, and I can never apologize enough."

"However – no matter how different from my intentions, you still pulled through," He looked at the younger wizard, pride full in his eyes, "You did so much better that I could have hoped, Harry. Even faced with what you did, with lies and disbelief and with a war that wasn't yours, you preformed magnificently. I am so very proud of you."

Harry had to admit he blushed. Although he still felt slightly frustrated, it was a cold sort of feeling, distant and indeed, in the past. He couldn't deny that that had pleased him, had made him happy. After a moment though, a thought hit him like a train, something he wanted to ask and felt as if he had almost forgotten. Glad he had remembered in time, he then asked, slowly,

"Do you know about Allen? His eye, I mean, and how he could see my visions?"

"Ah," Dumbledore donned a thoughtful expression, "That one, yes, he's very interesting. Fascinating even. I feel a little more confident in my guess as to that. I do not know how, exactly, mister Walker obtained that curse on his eye. It is the strongest curse I have ever seen in both life and death. However, I do understand that it allows him to see souls inside the akuma. Seeing as akuma are the only creatures in which hold souls that don't belong to them, I imagine that mister Walker can, in fact, see any soul that is not with the body it was born to. I could be wrong about that, but I am sure that it is why he could see your visions. While he could not see Voldemort's bit of soul in you, exactly, his eye activated whenever it sensed that the soul was connecting back to Voldemort, thus giving you your visions. His eye did not show the soul, but instead the connection, and the connection showed the vision."

Harry was not entirely sure he understood. He guessed that the other meant that Allen saw the visions because he saw the soul, or at least, something close to it. It did explain it fairly well, except,

"Then why didn't his eye activate when he was around a Horcrux? It's the same thing, except that it was in an inanimate object instead of a person. Other than Nagini, at least."

"I cannot say," The other answered with a slight shrug, "Perhaps it did, and you never noticed. Perhaps it is different when it is in an object instead of a person. Or perhaps it is because it was in an object, and it did nothing. His eye did not activate every time you were around, after all, only when you had visions. So maybe it is that he did not sense them because they did nothing. Those are my best guesses."

There was a pause before Dumbledore added thoughtfully,

"I would have liked to meet him face-to-face under less important circumstances. He is very interesting. After all, he himself seems to hold two souls."

"What?" Harry looked over, startled, "What do you mean, two souls?"

"Well, perhaps two souls is not the best way to put it. Mister Walker holds something else, at the least, inside him which is not apart of himself naturally."

"Is it... is he really actually... Noah?" He asked, eyes widened slightly as he thought back to recent events.

"That seems to be the case, doesn't it?" Dumbledore asked pleasantly, "At the least, I do not know the details. I'm pretty certain that he doesn't either. He is a good young man though... He reminds me very strongly of you."

Harry looked up instead of down this time. If Allen was a Noah... then what? Would he be cast out? Would he be hunted down? Would he be an enemy? Harry didn't know, but he did know that the other had been nothing but kind and helpful to him. Allen did not deserve to be prematurely judged.

Thoughts of Allen aside, he frowned as he was returned to the main issue now.

"What happens... if I don't go back?"

"Well, we are in King's Cross station now, you say? I think that if you decide not to go back, you would be able to... let's say... board a train."

"And where would it take me?"

"On."

A brief moment of silence before Harry sighed. He had a choice, but it really wasn't much of one. His destination was clear. He stood, feeling more peaceful than even when he had known that he would soon die. He was calm, and he knew that he was leaving the light and warmth of this place to go back to the death, destruction, and pain. He knew, but he couldn't bring himself to think that it was in any way a bad or wrong choice.

He looked over again, into Dumbledore's eyes,

"Tell me one last thing. Is this real? Or has this all been happening inside my head?"

The mist began to descend again, obscuring the other's figure. Even when the old Headmaster spoke, it sounded as if they were still sitting next to each other.

"Of course it is happening inside you head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

__--*--__

A/N: … Well, despite the fact that this was probably a boring chapter for most of you, I do hope it answered most of your questions. Or at least, a a lot of them.

Well.... One more to go.... Then the epilogue, but still, one more real chapter.....

Review?


	50. Chapter 50

A/N: Totally mixed feelings about being so close to the end! This is So. HARD. To. Write. Arg, conclusions!

__--*--__

Harry felt himself regain awareness. It seemed both like a gradual process, and yet at the same time, like an instant snap. There was a moment where he was drifting in the darkness in the middle of that place of mist and reality. Then he felt himself come _alive_ again, and he did not take a large breath but a very shallow one.

He became aware of the fact that his feet didn't touch the ground and that he was being held up by his neck, long and thin fingers wrapped around it, and it took all his willpower not to even twitch his muscles or to swallow. To do so would be to give himself away immediately. On top of that, he could he a great roar all around him. It took a moment before he could tell it apart from a mindless sound of rage and despair in many voices that all blended together.

Instead, he began to hear the individual voices of it. He heard screams of absolutely horrifying rage, yells of anger, shouts of disbelief. He heard loud crying, yelling and flailing and people sobbing. There was, he thought, somebody praying somewhere among them.

Most of all, he heard his name, over and over.

It was said in all kinds of tones of voices, with all kinds of emotions. The ones of anger made his slowed heart skip a beat, and the ones of extreme sadness made the backs of his eyes burn. The ones that expressed disbelief hurt his chest, and the ones that overflowed with fear made his throat close up. The ones filled with love made his skin tingle, the ones of disappointment settled around his head, repeating uncomfortably. He was sure that if he listened hard enough, he could hear every emotion there was to hear, all said and expressed through his name.

He could feel a sort of calm sense of calculation about him. He could hear the love and the grief that those around him were crying out with, and the fear and sadness, all so intense that he could feel it all in his very bones almost like he was a separate person.

"This is it!" He could hear the cold voice mingled with excitement, victory, satisfaction, echoing and overpowering the other voices around him, "_This_ is what you relied on to defeat this Lord Voldemort! You wanted a mere child to defeat me, all of you putting your trust in him. And now he is _dead_, never to rise again, and you have only death and sorrow to show for it!"

The voice was just in front of him. It was only a foot or two away from his face. He could almost visualize Voldemort's face there, red eyes before him in their cruel victory. Though Harry knew that it wasn't over yet, he felt... calmly, almost blankly, amused. It wasn't even amusement so much as a sense of foreknowledge.

"Now you will bow before Lord Voldemort and surrender, or every man, woman, and child will be slaughtered, and then so shall be their families. Kneel before me now, and you will be spared. So shall your family, your parents and your children, and we will live in the new world we shall create together."

Harry thought he could hear Hermione and Ron above most of the calls and cries, and above them, McGonagall. He couldn't hear anybody from the Order – perhaps they were crying out too, but he couldn't distinguish any of them from the roar of the crowd. He honestly, though, did think any of them did. He imagined that they watched with solemn eyes, watching and mourning in silence, being respectful. It was their way.

"SILENCE!" Voldemort shouted along with a bang, and the roar fell silent. "See him as he is, as he was! He was nothing but a boy who relied on the sacrifices of others! He could not have won, it was a fault of your own! Listen now and live, or do not and die instead!"

Another crack rang out and Ron yelled,

"He beat you!"

More shouting, more screams and cries and yells. Another shout from the Dark lord and they fell silent once more. There were some that were hysterical – they had all seen it after all. Every single person there had seen the Killing Curse cut through the air and hit Harry straight on – there was no tricks of the light, no illusion, no possible explanation that it had_ not_ hit him.

"If you continue to be so stubborn, you will learn your mistakes even more personally than you could ever wish-"

Harry thought that it was because he hated hearing them threatened over and over again. He figured that it was because he didn't want to lay there limply and play dead anymore. So one moment his body hung, limply, and in the next his muscles had tensed, his eyes snapped open, and he twisted his body around, using every single amount of force he could summon.

His fist connected with the Dark Lords face.

It was followed by a moment in which time slowed and Harry could see the skin bending around his hand, and then he heard a sharp _crack_, and he fell to the ground as the other stumbled back, almost falling completely.

It was satisfying in the way that a spell was not. Wizarding kind was not raised to believe in physical fights – it was often looked down upon actually. But Harry felt his blood pumping through his veins as his feet his the ground, hard, and he fell to his knees because of the suddenness of it. The other had frozen, half bent backwards, arms risen in what _had_ been an attempt to catch himself before he fell.

Red eyes turned very slowly in their sockets, meeting green once again, and Harry slowly rose to stand straight. His knuckles were aching more than fiercely – he felt a sharp pain when he tried to move them. Bone smashing against bone like that was very likely to cause a brake, and though he hoped that hadn't happened, his knuckles did feel as if one or two could be at least fractured. He held that hand loosely, ignoring the pain and keeping his face straight. He could feel heavy pressure around him on all sides, but for him, it was a welcoming pressure. All he focused on was the one in front of him.

The silence was one of pure disbelief. It was one of seeing the dead turn back to life. It was heavy and loud and oppressing. Just when the atmosphere felt like it could fill no more, it broke.

And everything burst into sound, into more shouts and yelling and screams, but now he could hear only joy, shock, love, happiness, determination, and so, so much relief. There were jeers and people pushing to see better trying to get a good look. Then Voldemort spun to stand straight, bringing his wand up not to shoot a curse at Harry, but to quiet the crowd.

"_SILENCE!_"

And silence fell.

The air became tense once more as they stared each other down, waiting for the other to move, to act. Harry still felt only calmness, though he could feel his blood pumping faster and his excitement slowly building like an ember being coaxed into a fire.

"Once again," Voldemort spoke in a low whisper that even Harry could barely hear, "You stand before me yet again."

"I always will," Harry answered, his voice strong, rising so that everyone could hear him, even if they hadn't heard what he was replying to, "You can't win. Even if I die for good, there will always be someone else."

"Who?" The red eyes were dangerous, "There is none who can defeat me."

And Harry let his mouth curve into a small, just as dangerous smirk that was slow and deliberate. Then he turned, an obvious insult to the other, and shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Dumbledore's Army!"

The spell broke yet again, and an answering roar rose yet again, all of those who had ever been apart of Dumbledore's Army screaming at the top of their lungs, and he thought he saw a couple faces coated with tears as his eyes flicked from person to person. He felt pride rise in him, swelling and showing through his grin. He saw grins from DA in response to his, all fiercely proud, all excited, all there and ready. He saw Ginny, watching him with eyes shining. Ron and Hermione were leaning on each other heavily, watching him with pride and happiness and worry. He saw Malfoy, limping heavily, staring with a hard sort of determination and encouragement. There was his teachers and his fellow classmates – he noticed that now there were many wounded out here, and he could tell that Tiedoll had at least partially lowered his Innocence, leaving plenty of room for those who could to leave and watch what was going on.

Then he spun, drawing his sword with one hand, the drawing strike sending the bolt of red off into the sky. As his sword hovered in the air for a moment, the sun rose from the horizon, the sudden bright light shining from the blade like a beacon.

He slowly lowered it, holding his sword in one hand, his wand in the other. He watched Voldemort for a moment, the other's chest heaving, his eyes narrowed, and then he spoke again,

"You never did understand what our strength was, did you?" He asked, "You always _knew_, but you never _understood_."

"Are you speaking of 'love', as that old man use to say?" The other sneered, "Do you believe that is what has kept you alive, has saved you again and again? It was not enough to save your parents when I killed them, or to save Dumbledore when he too was killed, braking like clockwork. And nobody seems to love you enough to come forward to fight with you now, do they?"

"Oh, but that _is_ what has kept me alive," Harry answered, "It is why I am here now, why I came back, why your spell fails on them over and over. You've silenced them and every time they've broken free from you in mere moments. But that's not why I'll win here today."

The sun was so bright – it was shining at his back, casting it's light on Voldemort, but instead of making the other appear anymore beautiful or glorious, it made him seem sickly, maybe even a little weaker than normal. He would have looked very intimidating in the dark, but in the light, he was revealed as what he really was.

"You believe you'll win?" He laughed, though his pupils seemed to narrow further into smaller slits, "And who will you use to accomplish it? Who will you sacrifice today?"

"Nobody," Harry replied firmly, "It's just us now. There's nobody to get in the way. You have no more Horcruxes, no more akuma, and no more Death Eaters fighting for you before me. Just us."

"Just us," The other repeated, "Then you must believe that you are smarter, are more powerful, than I. To believe that you will win fairly is a fools belief. Which is it?"

"I do know things you don't," Harry conceded, "And I do have a power you don't."

Voldemort's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger and disbelief. This child was neither more powerful nor smarter than him, it was not possible. It was not true, and he would not allow himself to be fooled.

"Lies," He hissed, "You believe you know more magic than I, Lord Voldemort, knows? You believe that you can overpower me, who even your precious Dumbledore feared?"

"He didn't fear you," Harry said calmly, "You always rely on fear to rule people, but it's not nearly as effective as you believe it is – after all, it was love, not fear, that fooled you for years upon years. Love, not fear, that ruled the actions of one of your most trusted."

"What is this nonsense?"

"Did you know? I know you don't – you always believed that Severus Snape was yours, didn't you? You never doubted him, never believed that he could truly have his allegiance somewhere else. But all along, ever sense you went against someone who he loved, you had an enemy in him, not a friend. Ever sense you murdered my mother, the one he loved, he had been working toward your downfall."

There was a moment of uncomprehending silence before the other responded,

"It does not matter – I murdered Snape not that long ago. He's dead and gone, and with his death, the Elder Wand is now mine."

"And there's yet another thing that you don't know," He grinned almost like a shark, and imagined that it looked at least a little intimidating at the way the other's nostrils flared, "Snape was never the owner of the Elder Wand. Murdering him had no purpose – he never owned that wand, it was never loyal to him, and so it isn't loyal to you either."

"What is this? Snape is the one who killed Dumbledore – he won it's allegiance when he did!"

"No. Because they planned his death. Dumbledore _asked_ Snape to kill him when the time came. His death was _planned_, and so Dumbledore wasn't defeated."

"Then it is mine because I took it from him, even though he was unwilling! I took it from his tomb, Potter, so it is as good as mine."

"That would be the case, normally.... if only Dumbledore hadn't been disarmed just before he died by someone else."

He looked to the side and caught Malfoy's eyes, who seemed both startled and confused why he'd been seeked out from the crowd. Then the conversation seemed to catch up with him and his eyes slowly widened. Harry looked back at the Dark Lord as he said,

"Draco Malfoy was the wands real master."

Whispers broke out in the crowd. Many gazes turned to the blond wizard, but Harry ignored them, adding,

"And I wonder if the wand knows that Draco was disarmed months ago? I wonder if the wand knows that I overpowered him then. If so, then _I_ am the true master of the Elder Wand."

Voldemort let out a wordless shriek of rage as he brought his wand up, not even speaking the words as he flung raw magic behind the strike. Harry watched – he didn't recognize the spell, though it wasn't the Killing Curse. He brought the sword up in a sweeping strike that sent the spell up into the sky yet again, moving his other hand at the same time to shoot off a spell of his own, which hit a large shield halfway across the area between them. It immediately cracked and fell into pieces of light, but the spell was successfully diverted.

Then they began to circle each other, firing spell after spell, dodging and blocking. Harry could freely admit that he hadn't ever faced anyone seriously who was as strong as the Dark Lord was. He made the grass into blades, sent stones hurling, cast spells and curses that could kill or maim him if it hit him correctly. On top of that, they were cast in quick succession, one after the other, no space in between them, wand sweeping around in complicated patterns.

He brought up his cloak the moment he saw the huge barrage of spells coming at him. Though his feet screamed at him to dodge, he was reluctant to brake from the slow circle they created as they faced each other. So instead he used the cloak to block those that he missed, his shield to bounce off the majority of them, and then cast spell after spell of his own.

He moved his arm in swirls and slashes and swipes at a speed he'd never reached before, all in a continuous stream. His own speed did not match his opponents, but it was alright. His power was not as great as his opponents, but that too, was alright. He didn't know as many spells as his opponent, but this was also alright. He focused only on what he had to do, what he was doing, and forgot that everyone else was there at all. He forgot that there were hundreds of people crowded around him, watching on in silence that was almost tangible. There was only him and the Dark Lord, circling each other, the light of the dawn falling on them.

He did become aware of them once more when there was a general stirring in the crowd. He saw, out of the corner of his eyes, the way familiar figures appeared among the people and forced their way gently to the front, until they stood between the crowd and the battle. A circle of them, dressed in black and red uniforms, holding or possessing weapons of great power. He briefly saw Lavi's bright, watching gaze, following silently, holding his large hammer so the base of the staff rested on the ground the hammer bigger than his head. Allen's silvery cloak moved in the wind, his face faintly encouraging but mostly blank. Lenalee kept her hands clasped behind her, her face calm, her eyes bright, her boots shining. Kanda stood tall, looking down at them, holding his sword down so the tip touched the ground. Harry saw Marie, Bookman, and Timothy as well.

They were all very diverse, it was strange to see that in them at that moment. British, Chinese, Japanese, American, German, tall, short, old, young, all of them. They stood with calm gazes that was slightly encouraging but otherwise silent. Their presence was enough to be encouraging, Harry thought.

And if the fact his cloak bounced spells felt a little like he was cheating, he didn't care. He would take every advantage he could get. Those spells and curses that were bounced toward the crowd were again deflected by the waiting exorcists. Perhaps that was why they were there, perhaps it was to grab the Innocence quickly should he die, or perhaps it was because they simply wanted to be. He didn't know.

He was sure that it was their presence that angered Voldemort even more – he let out a high pitched shriek, terrible and raging and almost inhuman. His power seemed to gather, and Harry tried not to let it make him loose his focus. He concentrated – he had been doing so since the start of the duel, trying to achieve one goal in particular.

As he fell back into his sort of meditation, he felt it. He saw it too – just briefly, he could have sworn he saw the light from the sun glinting along a very thin thread that stretched between them. He didn't know exactly what it was, but he concentrated harder and then snapped his hand out.

He heard a few gasps as he abandoned his spells, throwing out his hand as if to say 'stop'. He felt _it_ grow stronger, and as one, the spells that had been flying towards him veered off around him as if them had all hit an invisible shield. They had not, he knew, but it was mostly just hard to explain the sort of feeling he had at that moment. High, flying, singing, as if everything in the world at that moment was pure and untainted.

The wand in Voldemort's hand burst to life, green the color of life instead of death sparking from it's tip, glowing just faintly. It's wielder hissed in shock and surprise. Voldemort had no clue as to what was happening with it. He knew only that he could _feel _something in it, something living, something sentient, _shift_ inside it. He held on tighter when he felt it seem to grow warm and give a small, almost unnoticeable jerk in his hand. His sight landed on the other boy across from his, his face hard, the boy's eyes the same color as the sparks from his wand.

And he knew.

Harry knew the moment that Voldemort realized the wand was more than just a powerful wand. He knew the moment that the other tried to take control of it. He didn't know if the other actually knew that it was Innocence inside the Elder Wand, but he was nonetheless trying to steal the reins from him, pulling and tugging and yanking. He felt the thread between them come tight, and then something fall into place. It was like something inside him had been askew the whole time, not quite fitting just right, and that piece had finally been moved and fell into the correct place it should have been.

He thought he heard singing. It was soft and beautiful and powerful. He dropped his hand, full of confidence. He knew without words what it was. He would feel it firmly under his control, and the way that Voldemort's will tugged on it angrily, strongly. If Innocence was not so unbelievably strong with a will of it's own, he may not have been able to keep his grip on it.

He felt it's growing force, felt the way it's own power was building. He recognized it. He knew what would happen if the internal fight continued on like it was.

The moment that Voldemort felt even a tiny portion of the wand fall under his control, he put his entire power behind his words and curse as he screamed at the other, at everyone, at the world,

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_!"

It was like a cannon shooting forward out of the wand he held, bright green and so much more powerful now that the thing inside the wand was awake. The curse cut through the air, making the wind harsh and strong as it tried to push over all the spectators, the green light shining off of their faces almost sickly. They watched the huge beam of light seem only to gather at the tip for a couple of precious seconds before it exploded outwards.

Harry could see it, and better than anybody but the exorcists, feel just how powerful it really was. The Innocence was awake, activated, and showing the true power it could wield, if only the correct person called on it to. He stared into it calmly. He was not afraid, was not willing to feel anything other than a sort of melancholy.

It rammed into the air in front of him, once more as if an invisible barrier was there, but now it wrapped around him, leaving him in his own privet world of green. The light of it was bright, the wind it caused tossed his hair around like crazy. In the magic he could see not death, but life. He could see some sort of awareness inside it, looking out at him. He felt a strange sort of acceptance fill him, and knew it was not coming from himself. It watched him with eyes older than time, with more knowledge than any living thing, and decided.

Then the light was gone, and he watched it as it beamed straight back where it had come from, with every bit of force it had carried before.

Except now it held the Innocence's own anger in it, it's own vengeance.

Harry knew that had Voldemort continued to fight to unknowingly synchronize with the Innocence, it would have torn him apart. It would have, but it settled instead with wielding the power and shape it had now and turned back at the request of it's current owner.

Voldemort was engulfed in the light for no more than a few seconds, and from within it, his scream fell curiously silent in mid-sound. The light exploded outwards instead of fading like Harry had half-expected, shimmering sparks hitting the grass. Where it touched, the grass died.

The Dark Lord lay on the ground, his red eyes wide and horrified, his mouth only partially opened, as if he had tried to scream and had died before he truly had a chance. The wand lay not in his hand, but several feet away, now dormant and de-activated. He did not move.

And then the moment shattered and they all ran forward, pushing between and by the exorcists. Harry saw only the sudden convergence upon him, Voldemort's body disappear from view, and then there was people grabbing him, congratulating him, thanking him, shouting and yelling, crying and sobbing, pushing and pulling. People wanted even just a touch from him, and he couldn't understand a word anybody was saying. All the words he heard just blended together, and all he heard were the emotions in them. He saw faces he knew, faces he didn't. He felt hands run over all of him, saw Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Hagrid, all the Weasly's, McGonagall. They all passed before his eyes at least once, and he could hardly breath with all the people around him.

He knew only that he felt an intense sense of _peace_

The war that he had at first unknowingly fought all his life, the one he'd never asked for and had always hated was finally over. People had died, but other people were safe too. The Dark Lord's reign had ended, and he had saved many lives. He felt an inexplicable fondness for every face he saw, even those he didn't know well or didn't recognize.

Then they slowly began to back away and give him space to breath. Part of him was surprised, for he hadn't thought even the most powerful magic would have been enough, in that moment, to separate them from him. Then he saw the one's that approached him, and felt his smile, stretched across his face almost absent mindedly, widen just a little.

Allen led them, flanked by Lavi, and Kanda. Behind them were all the rest of the exorcists, the glowing fantastical vines that had covered the huge hole into the Great Hall behind them now only lining the hole. When they reached him, Harry took the wand held out to him with the correct amount of solemness.

"Thank you," He said, "But this is really yours. Innocence belongs with you."

"Why don't you give it to Hevlaska yourself when you're feeling up to it?" Lavi asked with a wink, "Gotta have some reason to come visit again, right?"

"I don't need a reason," Harry replied, giving a small grin, "I'll come back and visit as long as I'm welcome."

He watched the other laugh and reach out, ruffling his already messy hair. He slid his own wand into his holster, taking the other wand into his left hand, and looked between them,

"Although we ad tough times," Allen spoke softly, "I am still glad to have met you. I hope that you'll enjoy your peace thoroughly."

"I'll make sure to try," Harry replied just as softly, "And although I hadn't thought I would, I've come to see you guys as close friends. So I'm glad too."

All three of them shared a warm smile, though Kanda only looked slightly less cold than he usually did. Harry wasn't fooled. He knew the other well enough to know that he was feeling something similar to the rest of them, he just simply didn't show it. It was in fact Kanda, who had been staring off to the side, who noticed it. Followed quickly by the rest of them.

Off across the grounds, standing in the shadow of the Forbidden Forest, stood the Earl, Tyki Mikk, and Road Kamalot. Harry watched as Road waved almost enthusiastically, while Tyki tipped his hat in their direction. The Earl did nothing – then they turned as one and seemed to disappear into the shadows of the forest.

Harry didn't know why they chose to leave, or why they hadn't fought with the akuma in the first place. He felt they had had some other motive in mind, though he did not know what.

"It's alright," Allen said, turning back and resting a hand on Harry's shoulder, "We'll worry about them later. They're not your problem to worry anymore about anyway. You should enjoy your victory."

And so a hand clapped on his back, Harry was led back toward the Great Hall, and he heard laughing all around him.

Inside was those who were dead or had been too injured to leave. Many did let out shouts and clapping as they entered. Harry was aware of everyone else filing in, and he knew little of what to do. More people wanted to tell him their losses and their gains, wanted to thank him, apologize to him, wanted his blessing. It was not all that long before he noticed the exorcists gathering in front of the hole. He shook off the small observation that they looked fairly impressive with the sun framing them like that.

He went to them, wondering what was going on, and found in the middle of them was Miranda. She was at her utmost limit. She also spotted him almost immediately, and she shed a few tears as she stumbled over to him.

He held her up by her forearms, startled as she sniffed and cried his name.

"Miranda, you need to rest," He murmured gently, "It's okay, really."

"No," She said, "Your time... Your time had disappeared..."

And he understood then that she was upset and relieved not because she was at her limit or because so many people had died, but because she had thought he had died. He smiled, feeling warmth in his chest,

"I'm alright, see?" He smiled a little wider when she looked into his face, "I'm just fine. I promise. I'm sorry I scared you."

She shook her head, rubbing at one eye. Marie approached from behind her, gently laying one hand on her shoulder. He told her, softly, to let go of their time so that she could rest. Sniffling, she nodded.

It was obvious when she did. The other's in the Great Hall had been watching, and so they saw it too. There was a brief glow around Miranda before a strong wind seemed to blow through the huge room.

There was general shock when wounds began to appear on their bodies. What had been scrapes and shallow cuts or bruises turned to large gashes, broken bones, and other large wounds.

Lenalee's once almost perfect legs became riddled with cuts and gashes, and she wavered unsteadily on her feet for several seconds before Komui reached out to steady her.

Allen's torso was shredded, and extremely deep bruising along his ribs suggested that several were broken. Lavi had a think trail of blood trail down his cheek from under his hairline, and one particularly large gash along his hip. Kanda's arms were wounded, one of his fingers bent the wrong way. Chaoji had what looked to be a broken collarbone and a nasty slice on his ear.

That was all Harry caught from his own quick glimpse. He knew that among them, Lavi, Allen, Chaoji, and Marie collapsed immediately. Lenalee and Kanda had to sit quickly, and Timothy wavered a little unsteadily with a brave but pained face. Harry was otherwise too caught up in his own sudden wounds to really notice anything else.

His head ached fiercely, and he felt a trail of stickiness make it's way down his throat. His vision wavered for a moment, feeling aches and pains make themselves known across his body. The previous pain in his knuckles seemed lessened by everything else – one of his shins felt like he'd taken a bludger there multiple times, and his left elbow was cut. He found his hands, particularly his palms, were also skinned and burned slightly, his ribs hurt like crazy, and he was starting to feel a little dizzy.

He didn't know who led him to the side and who coaxed him to lay back, but he was aware that there was a flurry of activity around him. Those who Miranda had stopped time on were now able to continue on their course – those who held dangerous and likely life threatening wounds and had not been taken care of already now began to bleed again or otherwise advance. All those who had any knowledge in medical help were forced to lend a hand, and he knew that the Matron paid special attention to the exorcists now.

He did briefly loose consciousness for a little while – when he woke again, maybe an hour had passed by. He sat up, his ribs aching only a little, and found that the Great Hall had it's house tables back, though nobody sat according to house anymore. One portion was dedicated to those still wounded, though by this time, he found that other medical witches and wizards had been summoned and that there were very few had still yet to be treated.

He could see families up and gathered. He recognized the Weasly's at one table, gathered around each other. Percy was with them, his eyes bandaged tightly. They all looked as if they had lost something to the war. He spotted others too, and he found that he could find and see none of the people from the Black Order. Nonce except the matron, who spoke in quiet tones with Madame Pomfrey. He was surprised to find that of all people, Malfoy was the one who sat beside him.

"About time," Malfoy spoke, though without heat or real annoyance, "I was beginning to wonder it you were going to sleep the rest of the day away."

"It's tempting," Harry replied, sitting back and staring up at the ceiling, hoping nobody else had noticed he was awake, "Where'd the other's go? The exorcists and Komui?"

"They left me a message to give to you," The other answered.

Harry waited in silence, wondering what they might have said. Finally, Malfoy said,

"They told me to tell you that you're welcome to visit, that they expect you to do as you said you would, and that they supposedly treasure the time that you spent together."

"That's all?" Harry asked, though he wasn't very surprised.

"Who knows, they might have mentioned a thing or two else, but I can't be bothered to remember it," Malfoy looked away, a slight sneer on his face.

"Some things never change," Harry mumbled with a roll of his eyes. Silence fell again before the other braved to ask,

"What are you going to do now?"

"...I don't know," Harry wondered that himself as he stared at the ceiling, "Rest. Live. Enjoy the peace... What about you?"

The silence wasn't very encouraging, but right when he thought the other wouldn't answer, he heard,

"I talked to the lead guy, Komu-something-"

"Komu-_ee_," Harry corrected, ignoring the way the other shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah. I talked to him," Malfoy had a far away look in his eyes as he abruptly became more serious, "I think I might join the Black Order. We talked about the kind of benefits the addition of even one wizard could offer, and I have a few ideas in mind."

"That's great," Harry almost smiled, "I never imagined you of all people would do something like that."

"I never imagined I could sit here and have a non-insulting conversation with you of all people either, yet here we are."

Harry only laughed. He sat up again, and he looked out into the sun. He was filled with peace. He felt like everywhere he looked was filled with possibilities. He could see his friends and know that he had all the time in the world to talk to them. He could see Ginny, and knew there were days and weeks and years ahead of them, should they choose to spend that time together. He could feel all the things he was now free to do, to think, to feel, and he smiled not only because he felt happy, but also because he could, and meant it.

The war was over. So was a huge chapter in his life. He couldn't say he regretted much of any of it. And although he had so much to do and say to other people, he wanted to sit and enjoy the moment while it lasted. He had never felt how important Time was, before now.

"He's awake!" He heard somebody whisper, and he saw from the corner of his eyes the way the crowd seemed to shift and lean towards him. The moment somebody moved to come closer, Malfoy smoothly rolled from his seat and slipped away like a shadow.

Harry accepted every word of thanks he heard, he blessed those who wanted it though he felt that it was a little unnecessary, and he smiled and thanked them in return. He felt alive. He felt peaceful. He didn't think any other time in his life could or would top just how he felt then.

He looked at the cloak, folded up beside his head, and the Elder Wand, laying on top of it. He could feel the connection he had to them, and thus to the _other_ war, though it wasn't his own. He didn't know where he would be ten years from now, but he hoped that he could enjoy the peace he had now as well as he could.

Peace was always temporary, always fleeting, but this peace was _his_, and so he would keep it as long as it was available to him.

__--*--__

A/N: You know, I was tempted to write a fake chapter where Harry died and Voldemort won, and then say JUST KIDDING! XDDD But I figure I would get lynched for that. So I didn't.

Either way, I don't know how I feel about how this was ended, but I hope others are satisfied. Once more chapter to go.


	51. Chapter 51

A/N: Obligatory last Authors Note at the end ^^; Hope this isn't too cheesy or anything. Sorry the most of the kids aren't here – after some research, I found that his first kid is born about nine years after the Final Battle, about. And I already don't really like jumping into the future, since it'll no doubt make it AU to how DGM is really going to go. So the 'future jumps' nowhere near nine years.

__--*--__

Harry felt the tiny hand tighten on his as the world around him tilted and swirled and sucked them in, just before spitting them right back out. For a moment everything was dizzy and he was disoriented, but then it steadied. He was fairly use to traveling by port key now. Apparition wasn't advisable with a small child.

He looked and found that small head tucked into his collarbone, hair a dark brown. He rubbed small circles into the child's back, and a moment later, bright green eyes looked up at him.

"Better?" He asked with a small smile. The child, Teddy Lupin, nodded slowly. Harry nodded back, looking back up to the wild greens around him. It was carefully set up, just for him. He tucked the silver cross around his neck back under his shirt, feeling it hang there heavily. It was made of real silver after all, modeled after the Black Order's cross. A permanent port key, just for him, to use whenever he felt to need to travel there. It took him to the same spot all the time – a small clearing just beyond the forest line around the Headquarters. To be taken anywhere else would disrupt the carefully placed wards and spells that alerted the room all the wards led to.

He felt a small tingle as he stepped beyond the trees, carefully shielding Teddy from the sharp branches. The tingle faded quickly as he was recognized as most trustworthy. If he had not been, alarms would be going off, though he would not hear them, and many traps being activated. The defense of this place was the second largest resource that the magic being lent to them went.

"Tickles," Teddy giggled softly, wiggling a little in his arms. Then he gasped, as he always did when he caught sight of the great white castle. Although Harry had now seen it many times, coming and going, it was still always beautiful and welcoming to him. A small part of him relaxed at the sight of it, as if anything would go wrong from the time he arrived to the moment he took the several steps necessary to step into it's protection.

There was somebody waiting for him at the door. It was not much of a surprise, really, but he grinned.

"It's almost funny that you're the only one who seems to come through the front door anymore," Draco commented with an exaggerated roll of his eyes. It had been just under three years, and he was taller, his face longer and appearing more grown. He wore a large chocker around his neck, and from it dangled the same silver cross port key, trusted to a very select few. He wore rich robes, but not so rich that he couldn't afford to replace them. Harry knew very well that things... _happened,_ around here.

"Somebodies gotta stick to tradition," He replied with a wink, which the other pretended to be annoyed about.

"You? Traditional? Merlin may strike us all down should that ever happen."

He just laughed, and the child in his arms grinned, waving a small hand enthusiastically. They stepped into the white marble hallway, still lined by suits of armor, though these were much more likely to come alive and protect the place than they were a few years ago. Their footsteps echoed as they walked, and Harry knew that they were being followed and watched, though the perpetrators weren't very skilled.

"How have things been?" He asked casually.

"You would know if you hadn't disappeared for so long," Draco snorted slightly.

"I got busy. You know how things are. I know it has been a couple months though. I'm getting a vacation starting today, finally, first one in a few _years_."

"That is surprising, though I would have thought you'd use your titles and influence to grab one before now," He shrugged slightly, also ignoring their would-be trackers, "That little idea you had a while back had some merit, surprisingly. A lot of the squibs are pretty determined to be helpful in some way, and so have some other wizards. The medical program is going very slowly, and healers are hard to give up-"

Harry listened with a small smile. It had indeed been several months since his last visit, and he was glad to be back now. Since this was a time of change, of revolution, he could already tell that a lot of things had changed in his absence. The first thing he noticed was that there seemed to be a lot more people here.

The information and existence of akuma were still kept secret, but it was a loosely guarded one. Magic had been slowly introduced into the Black Order. Wizards and witches had joined, lending their expertise and experience. One of the first and biggest requirements, however, was to take an Unbreakable Vow, demanding that nobody ever tell anyone else about akuma, their real job, the location of their Headquarters, or the Noah without explicit orders from their Branch Chief. With that kind of power, the Order was able to reel in more Finders, more recruits. They had founded a branch alongside the scientists, the Finders, the medical branch and all the others, dedicated to magic. Draco was the one in charge of it, and though he was still young, he had his advisors and Harry himself to keep watch over him.

With new magical wards, detection spells, tracking charms, and even better, new transportation methods, the Order had indeed improved. There were even a lot of subtle clues – such as the fact they were looking into new materials for the uniforms that would help improve them, and to protect those who wore them. Every Finder and Exorcist had a tracker on them, not just because Central was paranoid, but also because that way they could almost always find them, and if necessary, their bodies.

Bak was even getting something of a more formal education in the likes of protective magic. His own minor expertise with Blood Magic had been helpful and even provided a few breakthroughs for the magical communities. There were so many things that had been changed and improved upon in the last three years that Harry often returned to find several new things that had taken hold in his absence.

"And where is everyone?" He asked when Draco slowed his rant on how useless some people were.

"Who knows?" Draco shrugged, unconcerned, "I'm certainly not their keeper. You should know better than I do where they'd be, if they're not on a mission."

Harry swallowed his first sarcastic response; generally, he and Draco had formed a sort of friendship where they didn't have to worry about hurting each other's feelings, so they never really censored their words, but today he was in high spirits. He wanted to enjoy it for what it was, and he just didn't feel like having an argument with the other, even if it weren't anywhere near serious.

He smiled slightly as he bounced Teddy on his hip purposefully, watching the small child giggle and finally tear his eyes off of their surroundings long enough to give a great wide smile at the one who help him.

"I'm more surprised the other two didn't come with you," Draco added, waving his hand, "All those years I never thought you three could be pried from each other, but lately you've made it into a habit to come alone... well, not counting the little monster on your hip... You look like a mother hen, did you know that?"

Draco and the child eyed each other, and Harry hid a grin when he could have sworn he'd seen the slightest narrowing of the child's eyes and a rather mysterious glint in them before he burst out in another grin. He was one of the happiest children Harry had ever seen, not that he's seen many. He had a feeling it had something to do with certain people's influence. Draco rolled his eyes and huffed as if he was being put-upon.

"So I've been told," Harry replied cheekily as they slowly passed the cafeteria, where several heads turned to follow them, "Hair like a nest and all."

"Actually," The other looked him over critically, "Your hair is _almost_ presentable today – that must have taken a lot of effort."

"Is that a compliment? Coming from _you_?" He chuckled, ruffling his own hair with his free hand, "Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation – does this look better?"

"No, it looks much _worse_," Draco scowled at him for deliberately messing up his own hair, "What with the reputation _you_ have now, Potter, I don't think your hair, of all things, would ruin it."

"Au contraire," Harry laughed lightly, "You must not pay attention to the way of the mob mentality works."

"There is little I don't pay attention to," The other argued, "You must be imagining things."

"Of course," He answered gravely, "My apologies, Lord Malfoy, for I know no better."

He received a firm fist to his shoulder – proof that you couldn't live at the Black Order and manage to stay away from the violence here. Especially when _Malfoy_ of all people punched people in reaction and didn't even hardly notice what an un-Malfoy thing it was to do. He was sure that the only reason he could make that joke was because they both knew his own standing. Neither of them were 'Lords', but whatever Draco was, Harry was guaranteed to be higher.

"I don't know if Komui is in his office or not," Draco then said when they turned another corner, "If that's who you want to see, right now. You'll be on your own though – I, unlike some people, have things I need to be doing."

"Like what?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"There's a new group of recruits today. They're all magical born, several are squibs. They've gone through the initial background check and skill checks. I have to give them their final talking-to, tests, and to complete their Unbreakable Vow's. They're all probably waiting for me."

"Waiting for you? You didn't need to come greet me if you had people waiting on you, Draco," Harry frowned slightly.

"I didn't go to greet you. Who else is going to make sure you don't get lost, idiot?"

He laughed, knowing as well as the other did that he knew this castle as well as it's inhabitants did. He lived there at _least_ a third of the year, after all.

He followed the other through a few more hallways before they reached a room filled with nervous looking people. There was a good large amount of them, most of them fairly young. The young ones had similar expressions of unease, false confidence, and hope. It was the hope that he liked to see most of all. Upon entering, their eyes lit up, happy that they had to wait no longer.

"Listen up," Draco spoke loud and clear as Harry began to sneak along the wall to watch from the back. He didn't have to stay if he didn't want to, but he often made it a thing to do, when there was any kind of initiation. "When I call your name, you will follow me into the room over there, and those who have yet to be called will wait until the door opens, the last person exits, and your name is called. After your part has been completed, you will come back here, go through that door," the other pointed at a door on the other end of the same wall Harry was leaning against, "and wait until you are acknowledged and taken charge of to receive further information about your jobs and what's specifically expected if you, along with the rules."

Harry rose an eyebrow. He wasn't really impressed per se, but it was interesting to see the other in charge completely on his own for once. He watched as the first person was called through the door on the opposite side of the room. He was content to watch the people around him, but then somebody plopped themselves into the chair next to him with a soft sigh. Looking out of the corner of his eye, he found a boy that was probably seventeen, just barely legal.

"What are you here to sign up for?" The boy asked curiously, turning his head to watch him.

"Ah. I'm not here to 'sign up'," Harry replied with a small smile, "I just wanted to see how things were going, and what some of the new people might be like."

"So you're already apart of the Order?" The other asked excitedly, "What division are you apart of?"

"Magical," He answered, still not looking directly at the other, "You're fairly young – what are you trying for?"

"I wanted to join as a Finder," The boy admitted, looking up at the ceiling while Teddy looked at him with wide curious eyes, "But I have something of a weak body. It's okay, so long as I don't do physically strenuous activities. But I wouldn't be a very good Finder, and I don't want to burden anybody. So I'm trying to join the magical research division. I hope to become a ward expert."

"You seem pretty set," Harry commented in surprise, "Most of those who come here don't have so clear an idea on what they want. Not specifically."

Indeed, most of them had vague goals, like 'defeat the akuma', or 'protect my friends'. It was good that this one seemed to really thought it out, at least a little.

"At first I wished to be an exorcist," The boy grinned weakly, "But then I realized how _scary_ it must be. I don't think I could handle fighting like that. I haven't actually seen any of them, but I hear that they're not that old either."

"Depends which one you're talking about," Harry switched Teddy into his other arm with an amused smile, "They're very... diverse."

"You know them?"

"Yes, I do."

"Wow," The other was watching him closely now, "I've heard a lot of scary things about the exorcists, like that they're really mean, and that they don't like other people. That they eat a lot, don't like to share, and that they particularly don't like Finders."

Harry laughed openly, ignoring how it drew some attention and that he could hear some whispers in result.

"What?" The boy asked, sounding insulted, "Am I wrong? You don't have to laugh."

The last of his laugh was joined by Teddy, who laughed only because he could, and because Harry was. After a moment, Harry regained control of himself and turned his head to look at him for the first time, eyes shining in amusement.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't laugh at _you_," He replied, "I didn't mean to offend. It's just that I didn't know their reputation, even around here, was so formidable. They're not so bad, really."

Everything he was saying appeared to be falling on deaf ears however – the boy's eyes were watching him in complete wonder, slowly widening in realization, mouth parting in shock. Harry felt his own amused smile fall slightly; he recognized that expression exactly for what it really was. When the other spoke, he didn't flinch, and that reaction was borne out of practice.

"You! You're – you're Harry Potter!"

Three years and they still react like the Battle at Hogwarts happened yesterday, he thought with only a dry humor. He'd since gotten use to his fame – used it, in fact, to his advantage when he was trying to win something particularly important. Hermione had never approved, but Harry saw little reason not to do it when after all, there were people who fell over themselves trying to talk to him.

"Ah, yeah, do you have to say that _quite_ so loud?" He asked with a sigh, knowing the damage was done. Around him stares spun and fixed on him. He didn't feel any hostility directed at him, only wonder, awe, excitement, disbelief.

"I'm- I'm so sorry-" The kid started in embarrassment, hurriedly bringing his hands up in surrender and defeat. His eyes never left the lightning scar though. His mouth kept moving, like he was trying to say a great many things all at the same time, though no sound emerged.

And then there were people all around them trying to squeeze in, to speak to Harry, to touch him. He felt the moment that Teddy became apprehensive. It was just as much for the child's sake as for his that he began to shift and make his way out of the crowd to where he remembered the door was. He'd become quite good at both shifting through crowds such as these, as well as remembering all the exits and entrances to a room.

Muttering apologies and excuses, he managed to squeeze himself out of the room just barely, shutting the door behind him with a reminder to all those near that they couldn't yet leave the room until their initiation, of a sort, was completed.

Left feeling ruffled, he ran a hand through his hair again before patting the child on his back when he grasped on tightly and nuzzled into him with a shutter.

"Scary thing, isn't it?" He mumbled. The child tightened his grip in response.

Harry had to think for a moment where to go next. He didn't know who all was around, who was out on missions or not. Komui rarely left the Headquarters except in emergencies, so there was a very good chance that at least he was here, somewhere. He use to check in with the Branch Chief every time he arrived, but eventually fell out of the habit since the monitors always knew when he arrived, and Komui was usually the first to know.

He headed to the next likely place to find somebody he knew well: The cafeteria.

The walk wasn't particularly long, but he enjoyed it. He passed by several people he didn't recognize in the least, and a couple he did, and nodded to all of them. At the entrance to the cafeteria, he looked around in curiosity, trying to spot one of the fairly recognizable friends who lived here. He knew that there were plenty of people who saw him and watched him in turn, and that nearly all of them knew who he was. There were enough whispers that even if he hadn't been sure, they'd have erased all doubt.

He spotted one of them quickly enough.

His hair was longer, his skin perhaps a little paler. He was a bit taller, even more solid and filled out than before, but all in all, Kanda had not changed all that much in the last three years. With a small grin, he started to make his way over to the table where the other sat alone.

He was much more aware of the shocked stares and warning glances than he let on. It was so amusing to see so many people trying to warn him off from the one who was best known in the Order for his violet temper. When he slid in across from the swordsman, he pretended he didn't notice one of the younger Finders making a cutting motion across his throat behind his back.

"Soba again? Don't you ever eat anything else?" He asked in amusement. Kanda looked up at him with eyes that hid the wolf in him, calm and aware.

"What do you think?" The other replied, taking another mouthful of the noodles just to prove his point.

"Uncle Yu!" The first words that Teddy had uttered since arriving. The most amusing part was seeing him suddenly growing long hair. Kanda had grown somewhat use to this ritual – he'd managed to learn to tone down his reaction to a mere eye twitch.

"One of these days that stupid redhead will get what's coming to him," Kanda swore, "It was his bright idea to give the kid that nickname, wasn't it?"

"Actually," Harry hid a smile behind his hand as he set the child on the bench next to him, "It was a monkey see, monkey do kind of thing."

"It's always his fault," the other answered as if he were agreeing.

"Where is everyone?"

"Hell if I know," Kanda didn't wave his chopsticks, but it was a near thing, "I'm sure the idiot will find his way to bug me, he always does-"

"Yu~!" Another familiar voice called, followed by a theatrical gasp, "And is that?! It is! Harry and my favorite little munch kin!"

He looked over his shoulder to see an older Lavi, taller, leaner, and missing what use to be his trademark eye patch. Instead he had a bright, light blue eye in the place where there had been none. Harry knew that it was a magical eye, because he'd been there when some experts got a good look at Moody's eye and duplicated it before putting it on Lavi. Moody's eye had been berried alone, since he'd had no body to go with it. At Lavi's side was Allen, almost as tall as Harry now, his face thiner and his eyes soft yet a little harder than they use to be.

Beside him, Teddy let out a squeal of delight, and his long dark brown hair abruptly turned a shocking white, his eyes mismatched blue and green, though because he was trying to mirror Lavi's, he got which one was which mixed up.

"Ah, rip out my heart why don't you?" Lavi exclaimed, clutching at his chest while Teddy jumped right off the bench into Allen's arms. "I see how it is."

Teddy was blissfully ignorant, his smile happy and wide as he began to tug on Allen's own white hair excitedly.

"Welcome back," Allen said as he always did when Harry returned.

"All alone?" Lavi asked as he slid into the seat next to Harry's, "I'm surprised."

"Draco said the same thing," Harry rolled his eyes, discreetly aware of the way that many others in the cafeteria were staring at him with wide eyes. Whether it was because he had been so unanimously accepted by the mysterious exorcists, because he hadn't been stabbed upon approaching Kanda, or because they were only just now realizing who he was, he wasn't sure. He supposed it was a mixture of all three.

"Can you blame him?" Lavi smirked slightly, motioning towards Teddy as Allen carefully sat down with his back to the table, letting the toddler sit in his lap, "For a while after that Battle, you were inseparable, but lately you've been showing up more and more often by yourself... and with this one, of course."

"Well, now that we've gotten a little more time to ourselves, we've been able to do other things... Hermione and Ron have been very busy lately, planning."

"Planning? Not a scheme, I hope," Allen smiled at the child indulgently.

"No," Harry smiled a little wistfully, "one of the reasons I was looking for you all earlier actually – they've been very busy planning, and I had to get out of there as soon as possible, Mrs. Weasly was going a little batty over it all. Be careful – if she tries to coerce you into helping, run."

"Oh~" Lavi leaned forward in interest, "Sounds like something big...Don't tell me, Ron finally popped the question?"

"How'd you know?" Harry wondered in curiosity.

"I helped him plan the proposal, of course," Lavi boasted, "How better to ask than a genius?"

"A genius at being an idiot," Kanda muttered, pushing the last of his plate away. Surprisingly there was a little left. Over Allen's shoulder, Teddy caught sight of it, trying to reach with his small hands. Allen half-turned in surprise, and then Harry looked up at Kanda in askance. The Asian rolled his eyes. "Help yourself."

Allen turned in his chair completely, pulling the last of it towards him to help Teddy eat.

"So!" Harry grinned, leaning forward, "I've been drafted into making sure you try your hardest in showing up. No pressure, of course, we all know you have very important things that might come up, but I have to say, Mrs. Weasly was waving her spoon a little violently when she was telling me to make sure I tried my hardest at convincing you."

"Wouldn't want to cross a woman scorned," Lavi joked, "Especially a magical one with a spoon."

"I'd love to go," Allen agreed, "I'll try to make it, but I can't make any promises."

At once, their gazes turned to Kanda, who appeared to not even notice their conversation, his head tilted to the side as if listening to something. Noticing their stares, he looked at them, flatly.

"Come on, it's not so bad," Harry promised, "You don't have to do anything, not even any formal wear."

"No promises," The other replied in a similarly flat tone.

"I can live with that," Harry grinned, "Though then it's on your head, if you don't show."

"No promises," Kanda repeated with a roll of his eyes and a less flat tone.

"Hey, it's Harry!"

Harry glanced over his shoulder to see Lenalee approaching alongside a much taller and older Timothy.

"Alone?" Timothy asked when they were near.

"Why is that seemingly the first thing people have thought when they see me today?" Harry wondered aloud, "I'm going to start thinking that you guys don't like me so much anymore."

"Of course that's not it," Lenalee replied with a warm smile as she laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course," Kanda repeated a little more mockingly.

"It's just, I thought, since last time she said-" Timothy mumbled, embarrassed. Harry smiled as he saw this, wryly amused.

"I'll let her know she's missed."

"Aw, you know you're way out of your league," Lavi teased, grabbing the younger boy's cheek.

"What do you know, you couldn't get a girl friend if your life depended on it!" Timothy snapped, face blushing.

Harry watched with a smile as they bickered. He'd thought it was cute, the way the young exorcist had developed a crush on Ginny, and that it had lasted so long. He was twelve years old now, slowly growing up, and it changes were fascinating to Harry, who wondered if he's someday see the same changes in Teddy.

A lot of things had changed in three years. He could still remember that night so long ago when he's discovered akuma for the first time, when his house had been very nearly blown to bits, when he'd been rescued. The exorcists had been around ever since then.

They had all changed in their own ways; Lavi, with his magical eye, Kanda with his inner wolf that was strangely tame considering. Allen had becoming quieter, firmer, his warm glow burning even brighter. Lenalee was a full woman now, and others had grown older as well.

He knew that Percy had lost his eyes for good, after the war. He now wore a clothe over his eyes – though they appeared untouched now, magic healing it from even scars, he considered the loss of his sight as divine punishment. He refused to seek help with getting new eyes or finding a bigger way to see again. Fred and George continued their joke shop, the biggest thing around for miles and miles. Teddy had been meant to pass into his grandmothers care instead of Harry's own, but he had the child almost constantly. The small one was considerably spoiled, the only child around in the Black Order's halls that wasn't an exorcist.

Harry loved his friends, loved his job, loved helping both his wizardry world as well as the Order. He would continue to live and do his jobs for as long as he lived. He would someday bring his own children here, to roam the halls and brighten peoples days. He would one day bring one of his children here not as a visitor or a guest. He would look after another child of the other main wizard here, who had become a good friend to him, and he also took the same road. He would second guess and he would have doubts. He had what he hoped would be a long life ahead of him.

One thing he knew, however, one thing he could be sure of, was that that chapter in his life of the Dark Lord had truly ended in that battle. His scar had been silent all this time. He saw no visions, Allen could no longer sense him in any way, shape, or form, and his parstletongue was gone.

He had been an exorcist in power for a little while, and he would always be a wizard. He suppose he'd been meant to always be stuck between two worlds, but at least this time he didn't feel 'stuck'. It wasn't unwilling or unpleasant.

Instead, he was the bridge to connect the two, the necessary lock in the middle. He hoped to make it so someday the lock was a permanent thing, so that maybe their worlds could be connect even without him. He hoped that someday the Earl would be gone. He hoped that eventually there wouldn't _be_ a war, not one in the shadows, and not one in the light.

He had been told that this one wasn't his war. But he had _made_ it his, and he didn't regret it.

__--*--__

A/N: Well well. What do you know. I started this story nervous and almost half-heartedly nearly one year ago. I didn't REALLY think I'd ever finish it, yet here it is. I've never finished a real story before, seriously. And now I look at my HP book, knowing I went through most of it... I'm really surprised.

On top of that, do you know what my biggest goal for this story was? It was to get 100 reviews. That I got ten times that, literally... I'm really amazed. And I can't thank everyone enough. I'm proud to have finished this story, and I _still_ have every review I've gotten for this story saved XD Thank you to all who ever reviewed, even if it was only once. Those who started from the very beginning and reviewed nearly every chapter, thanks even more. I'm really glad a good handful of people seemed to really enjoy this story. I really hope D. Gray Man becomes more popular, haha.

As for anything I might write now... I'm not sure. I mean, in all honesty, this was meant to be something I did until I got bored of it (Though I never did end it whenever I felt I'd reached the end of my rope with it.). I'd feel too guilty, haha. I have been getting fonder of doing Harry as a Noah though, and I had another idea for a small Kingdom Hearts story (No really, a very small one. Few chapters. Probably. Don't hold me to it XDDD). I wonder if I could complete another. I'm not sure. Maybe we'll see. It's going to be so weird to come home and realize that no, I don't need to hurry up and work on a chapter, that the story's finished.

I'm going to be going through and revising, hopefully patching up any plot holes, fixing certain aspects (Most importantly the spelling mistakes XD). So I guess it won't _really_ be done until then. But still.

Thank you again to everyone who has (And will) review. Most of you probably have no idea just how much weight each review carries. It helps authors keep writing even if they feel the stories grating on their nerves, sometimes.

3


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